


Red vs. Blue's Ghost

by Po_ta_toes



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Grimmons, Implied Relationships, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Tuckington - Freeform, seriously angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-04-24 07:06:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 38
Words: 87,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19168261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Po_ta_toes/pseuds/Po_ta_toes
Summary: This story begins during the events of Red vs Blue Season 9Ghost has been a part of the Blue Team for as long as she could remember, always making sure her idiot boys don't actually get themselves killed before they're supposed to defeat their secretly fellow Reds.Agent Indiana is one of the best and brightest in the Project Freelancer division, always keeping the Director on his toes and somehow avoiding the competition between Agent Texas and Agent Carolina.So how do these two stories clash?





	1. Chapter One ~ Rounding Error

_"Hi. My name is Leonard Church. But, nobody calls me Leonard. Most people call me Church. Sometimes they call me Alpha, and a few people even know me as the Director. But I haven't been called that in a really, really long time. You see, I know that when you look at me, I know I look like a super badass space warrior, but I'm really not. I'm actually a-!"_

"Hey, Church!"

_"Uh, h-_ _gh_ _\- just uh, ignore, uh- I'm actually a computer program, that's been reincarnated in the memory of--"_

"Church!"

_"I'm actually a computer program--"_

"Hey, Church!"

_"That's been reincarnated in the memory of a--"_

"Where the hell are you?!"

_"Okay, uh, I'm just gonna start over. Uh I'm just uh- I'll just ta- I'm just gonna go back to the beginning."_

"Church!"

_"Hi."_

" **Church**!"

_"My name is Leonard Church."_

"Church!"

_"But, nobody calls me--"_

"Hey, Church, come on!"

Church, a light blue armored soldier, grunts and shouts in frustration, "Hhhhhngh.  **Goddammit,** _ **what!?**_ What do you want!?"

He looks up in the direction of the annoying voice, and over on the cliff side, a soldier in teal armor, Tucker, is waiting for him, "Come on, get up here!"

"Yeah, okay,  _hold on_ , for God's sakes I'm coming. Shut up!"

Church starts to trek over the small barren field he resides in, known as Blood Gulch Canyon. As he takes the small journey, he continues to curse under his breath, "Goddammit, I can't even have one fucking moment to myself. Can't even be alone with my thoughts, not even for a second. Someone's always gotta fucking yell, or scream or,  _"come look at this; what's going on over here"_  or  _"hey Church, help me out, I don't know what the fuck I'm doing."_   **Fucking assholes**. God, I forgot how much this place sucks."

Back by Tucker, he turns around to meet with his other teammates. Caboose, with dark blue armor and an older helmet with an orange visor, and Ghost, with lime green armor and royal purple accents.

"Now when he gets up here, remember the plan," Caboose speaks, sounding determined underneath that helmet.

"Plan? What plan?" Tucker asked, dumbfounded.

"We only have one shot at this, don't let it fall apart."

You would think it was a serious situation, but this was Caboose of all people. Nothing about him should be taken seriously. This is something Tucker knows, "Why are you talking to me like this is supposed to make sense? Is this another one of your idiot schemes to make Church your best friend?"

"Honestly, I think he comes up with all these plans of his in his head, and then just assumes we can hear his thoughts," Ghost pitches in. And as it turns out, Private Ghost is a female. She leans against the side of the box canyon, folding her arms and smirking underneath her helmet as she watches the show play out in front of her.

Caboose hears Church approaching and starts whispering, "Okay shhh- remember, let me do the talking."

Tucker reverts back to being tired of Caboose's bullshit, "Do the talking about  _what_ , idiot?"

"Don't worry, I got this."

"Famous last words," Ghost remarks.

"What would I be worried about? I don't even know what you're doing," Tucker deadpans.

As he says this, Church comes jogging up the slope of the cliff, winded from his jog and gasping for air. Caboose pays no attention to this however and talks as if he was a computer or someone trying to memorize their lines, "Hey Church, welcome to the cliff."

Church wheezes, "Hey guys, hey guys-hhh, man, whoo!"

"Okay, abort. The plan did not work," Caboose panics.

Tucker isn't amused, "That was it? Okay, now I actually wanna know, what was the plan? 'Cause apparently phase one was saying hi. What was next, were you gonna wave?"

"Abort.  **Abort**."

"I think he was expecting Church to just go on and on about how much of a good best friend he is right after he says hello. Classic," Ghost deducts like she spoke Caboose's language.

Church is still gaping like a fish, his hands to his knees, "How... what're you guys... what do you guys want?" He gasps.

"Dude, are you fucking dying?" Tucker asks, "You sound like my vacuum cleaner when it picks up a penny."

"You have a vacuum cleaner?" Ghost asks with a sarcastic tone, clearly used to the male idiocy surrounding her.

"Sure!" Tucker confirms, while underneath his helmet he's wiggling his eyebrows, "Come to my room tonight and I'll show ya. Bow chicka bow wow."

Church finally tries regaining his breathing as he pushes the conversation on, "I'm just a little uh, out of breath. I'm not used to this, it's been a while since I uh, had a human body."

Caboose stutters excitedly, "Oh God I know, I- I hate having one of those; i-it's like, it  _always_  wants to pee. Like all the time."

"What the fuck is everyone talking about today?" Tucker exclaims, "Did I miss a staff meeting? What other body would you have?"

Church catches himself and clears his throat, "It's uh, it's a long story. Remind me to tell you sometime. So uh, what's up, what's goin' on?"

"We have movement over at the Red Team's base. I thought we should check it out. Actually, I thought we should ignore it, but there's really not anything else to do," Tucker admits.

"Movement? What kind of movement?"

"The red kind," Caboose comments.

"They can't do any other kind of movement, honestly," Ghost scoffs.

The four Blues look over the cliff side and towards the other end of the canyon, where a similar base to their own lies. Tucker turns them back on the subject at hand, "Remember that new vehicle they got?"

"Yeah, the Puma?" Ghost asked.

"What? No way, it's totally a Warthog. Anyway, they've been making modifications to it."

"Well that doesn't sound good," Church observed, "How're they modifying it?"

"I don't know, why are you asking me?" Tucker sassed, clutching his gun tighter.

"Wait- you've been up here watching them all this time, can't you make a guess?"

"Well I don't know man, they sure as hell ain't installing a stereo."

"Thanks," Church muttered sarcastically, "Caboose, what do you think it is?"

"Yeah, actually I was gonna say stereo, but now it seems like a bad idea to say that so now I'm going to say... radio."

"That's the same thing, idiot," Tucker groans.

"Yup I know, but I still think I won somehow..."

"Here, let me see the sniper rifle, I'll check for myself," Church grunts while switching out his usual melee with their one and only sniper rifle, looking through the scope.

"Do you even know how to use that thing?" Tucker asked.

"Do I know how to use- of course I know how to use it," Church exclaims, before he suddenly trails off while examining the rifle, "Don't uh... hey where's the um... how do I make it do the thing, the... the thing, where everything gets closer? Everything gets closer and bigger? How do I do the closer, bigger thing, with it?"

"You mean zoom?"

"Zoom, yeah that's it, zoom. What's that- oh are you saying, do I  _say_  zoom? Zoom. Zoom!  _Rifle."_

"Press the black button," Tucker orders with a non-impressed sound in his voice.

"Oh..." Church does so and what follows was a small string of silence, "Shut up.

"Hey, I didn't say a word, dude."

"I think your age is showing, Church," Ghost's voice clearly was amused.

"Shut. Up," Church growls before going back to spying on the Reds from across the canyon, "Huh. Yeah, looks like they've modified their jeep. They changed the turret. What is that, like some kind of radar dish?"

"I think it's a rocket launcher," Tucker noted.

"That's impossible. You can't fire rockets from a jeep, dumbass. There'd be too much uh... torque, or something like that. It's probably some kind of like a microwave transmitter."

"Well, they were loading rockets in it earlier, so, unless they were microwaving explosives for a tasty snack, it's probably a rocket launcher," Tucker sassed back.

"Oh great, now I want a snack," Caboose's shoulder sunk.

Ghost pats his shoulder, "I'll fix you up an MRE when we get back."

"Hey, didn't you hear what I said about the torque?" Church snapped at Tucker, ignoring Caboose and Ghost for the moment, "It's probably like-!"

He couldn't finish his sentence as the cliff they were standing on suddenly explodes in their faces, sending all four of them back, the explosion ringing in their ears and causing their hearts to race.

Ghost feels her back slam against the rock wall behind her during the impact and screams out in frustration during the sudden blast, "FUCK!"

Church appeared to be in the same boat as his teammate, " _Son of a bitch!"_

"Yeah, I'm feeling pretty confident about my rocket launcher guess," Tucker groaned once he regained himself.

Caboose tried shaking off the effects of the blast while shaking his own head, "Yeah, I don't know, I think Church was right. I'm pretty sure I just torqued in my pants."

The Blues suddenly find themselves taking fire yet again, another rocket from the Reds blasting and exploding in their position, causing Tucker to fly back again, " _Ah!_  I hate being right all the time."

"Was that  _Donut_?" Church asked in pure disbelief when he heard a familiar, flamboyant voice giving orders to the other Reds to fire again.

"I don't know, that's the chick who was working on the jeep," Tucker grunts.

"He's not a girl, Tucker, he just wears pink armor. It's a guy."

Tucker's voice suddenly dropped of its sarcasm, feigning in disbelief, "It is? Are you sure?"

Church sighs, "Yes, I'm sure."

Tucker began to stutter, "Uh, then I suddenly feel pretty awkward about something I did twenty minutes ago."

"During Alone Time," Caboose confirms.

"What the hell is Alone Time?" Church demands.

"When Tucker questions being a raging bisexual," Ghost chuckles.

"Fuck off, Ghost! I'm not into dudes!"

"I don't know..." the female soldier trails off for dramatic effect, clearly enjoying this, "I'm sure even if the one in pink armor  _wasn't_  a girl, you wouldn't have cared. You're just saying that you feel awkward about your thoughts during Alone Time because you're still closeted."

Church wasn't so amused, "What. The Hell. Is Alone Time?!"

"Hey, it's one of the rules of the cliff, dude. What happens in Alone Time STAYS in Alone Time," Tucker defends.

Ghost scoffs playfully while turning to Church, "Like I said: RAGING bisexual."

"You're a terrible person," Tucker simply states.

Ghost sighs, "I know. It keeps me up at night."

"What do  _you_  do during Alone Time, Caboose?" Church asked the private.

"Oh, I do the same stuff I do during Together Time... only half."

"What?"

"Another benefit of Alone Time, not listening to him for a few minutes," Tucker groans.

"More so to think about him," Ghost teases.

Tucker gets defensive, his voice raising a little, "Oh, yeah, bitch? What do YOU do during Alone Time?"

"Oh, you would just LOVE to know, would ya, Tucker?"

"Bow chicka bow wow."

" _Dammit_. Rocket jeeps? Donut giving orders? This is getting ridiculous. I'm putting a stop to this," Church growls as he suddenly stands up, being completely open to any fire the Reds send their way.

"Church, wait!" Tucker calls after him just as the ground began to shake and Caboose starts to panic.

"Tucker, get down! They're firing again."

"That wasn't a rocket," Tucker observes, "That was something else."

"And since when did YOU care about Tucker's well-being?" Ghost accused Caboose since she clearly had every reason to believe Caboose didn't like their flirtatious teammate.

"Church, where are you going?" Tucker runs after their leader, "Church!

"To set things straight, Tucker," Church calls back, "If we're gonna do this, it has to be done the right way. Or there's no point in doing it at all, okay? There's an order to things, Tucker, an  _order_!"


	2. Four Years Before Blood Gulch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm Po_ta_toes! This is my very first story on Archive since I joined not that long ago so please be nice to me. I published the first chapter before introducing myself because I wanted to see if people are actually reading the notes. So this work is actually published on my Wattpad account. You can find me @TMNT221BHobbit. Why I brought it over to Archive is mainly because the Red vs Blue community isn't nearly as big on Wattpad as it is on Archive. So without further ado, please enjoy!

_As the Director watches the action from the War Room, his hands respectively behind his back, he turns around to inspect the scoreboard as one of his men approach him._

_"Situation is critical, sir. Should we do something?"_

_"Yes," the Director agrees, "Send them in."_

_"Roger that," the man turns to the radio, speaking through his Bluetooth, "Number One and Two, you are green to go."_

_The Director then turns back to his agent, "Activate failsafe."_

_"Copy, sir. Initiating Beta protocol."_

~~~~~~~~~

_Meanwhile, on the battlefield, two Freelancer soldiers in identical armor stood back to back while looking around at all the soldiers from the Insurrection surround them while armed to the teeth in ammunition. The taller of the two Freelancers, with dark purple and green accents, was Agent North Dakota._

_"Well, out of the frying pan and into the fire."_

_Agent South Dakota, with light purple/pink armor and pastel green accents, North's sister, shrugs, "Eh, figure I could take about fifty of them. How about you?"_

_"How about you save your jokes until we get out of this?" North remarked, unamused._

_"Where the hell is extraction?!" South yelled._

_"Attention, **assholes**!" One of the leaders of the Insurrection stands over the Freelancers with a machine gun, "Stand down, you're surrounded! Give us the data file, now!" He keeps demanding and rubbing their defeat in the faces that he didn't even notice that someone blending into the background was creeping up behind his men, "You  **will**  be taken into custody. We can either do this the easy way or the hard way. There is no escape, so give us the damn data file!"_

_As he finishes his sentence, a soldier from the shadow attacks and kicks three of the men off their high perch. Moving forward, the shadow kicks more men into their leader before attacking the leader himself. Once the leader was down, the new arrival grabs the machine gun and aims and fires at the opposite pier. The perch collapses, causing the men and guns on top of it to fall._

_"Get down!" North covers his sister with his own body, watching as another pier takes fire and also crashes down, "Son of a bitch."_

_"What's going on?" South questions._

_"It's **her**."_

_"What?" She looks up to observe the other soldier fighting for them, "What's **she**  doing here?"_

_The new arrival kicks the gun as it continues to fire, ducking her head when it spins around back at her while taking out the men around her. She leaps into the air after the gun stops firing and lands in front of North and South, her leg out as her armor turns into its original turquoise, aquamarine color._

_"Okay," Agent Carolina mutters as her companions ready their weapons, "My turn."_

_As she charges forward to take the men out with just her fists, North and South continue their back to back formation. Out of the corner of their eye, they notice that there was yet another soldier joining the fight, appearing to have dropped down from the sky. This soldier had green armor and light gray accents._

_Agent Indiana's voice made it clear she was wearing a smug smile behind her helmet, "I thought I would join the party!"_

_North shoots one of the men behind her and leaves a spot open for her to join their formation. Indiana speeds forward and slides underneath one soldier's legs and quickly stands back up to kick him in the spine. Once he falls, she draws her gun and shoots him down. South leaps forward and dropkicks two men down who were fighting over a rifle. During their trigger happy shootout, North kicks a man where the sun doesn't shine, the kick being powerful enough to send the man up into the air. As he was flying up and groaning in pain, North brings up his gun and shoots him. North turns and looks up just in time to see the leader of the Insurrection stand back up and take charge of the machine gun once again, aiming it directly at North's twin._

_"South, look out!" North runs forward, pushing his sister out of the way just as the machine gun fires and hits him multiple times in the chest, "Ah!"_

_South shakes off the shock, watching as her brother fell before turning to the gun, "North-! NO!"_

_Carolina backflips out of the way of the gun's bullet, swiftly turning to Indiana while shouting orders, "Take out that gun!"_

_Indiana moves quickly, dodging any oncoming soldiers before fetching her grappling hook. She aims and fires at the machine gun, catching the scope with the hook and pulling with all her might. As the machine gun is still firing, it topples and collapses downwards, harming only those around it. The ammunition drills into the bridge and splits the whole structure in half, causing men to fall to their deaths and drift into space._

_Using the distraction, South goes for her brother and throws one of his arms over her shoulders, helping him stand up and walk towards the edge of the space station, "I got you. Move!"_

_North grunts and leans against the ledge, clutching his gun and aiming at the enemy as South turns back to firing at oncoming troops and radioing in Command, "Come in, Command, we have wounded, you need to get us out of here, **right now**!"_

_"Come on you two," Carolina somehow sneaks behind them, grabbing them both by the back of the armor, "We're leaving."_

_She then leans back and pulls the twins down with her, causing them to yell out and for all three to fall off the edge of the space station. The troops all look at each other in confusion and shock, slowly inching forward towards the edge to see where their enemy had gone. They hear an engine and slowly, where the three had fallen off was suddenly replaced by a Pelican dropship, catching the three onto the roof of the flying vehicle._

_Carolina waves to the troops, "Sorry about the mess, fellas! Indiana!" She calls out, "We are LEAVING!"_

_Indiana stops in her tracks from running around wreaking havoc and jumps up and down as a way to psych herself up to the task. She takes a deep breath and breaks into a run towards the ship. As she gets to the edge of the floating station, she jumps far up into the air, the whole universe fell into silence around her as she held her breath, turning on her gravity boots to pull herself down. She finally touches down onto the roof of the ship and to catch herself on the landing she rolls forward, landing on her knee to break her fall. Huffing, she doesn't hesitate to rush forward and help the injured North up while his sister goes to open the door for Carolina and the others._

_"I got you," she mutters to North._

_"Package is secure, everybody on board," Carolina reports as she and the rest of her teammates climb down into the pelican._

_"Somebody call for a ride?" The Pilot, Four-Seven-Niner as they call her, teases once Carolina joins her up front._

_"You're late," was all Carolina replied with._

_"Yeah, well, you can take it outta my tip."_

_The ship takes off into space, and the station mysteriously blows up into space particles behind them. As the explosion rocks the ship with small currents, Carolina receives a notification on the controls in front of her._

_"Incoming transmission, I got it," she answers, "This is vehicle Four-Seven-Niner responding, go for secure."_

_**"Secure,"**  a female AI's voice, FILSS, answers,  **"Hello, Agent Carolina."**_

_"Good morning, FILSS. Nice to hear your voice."_

**_"Is this a bad time? You sound occupied."_ **

_"The L.Z. got a little... hot. We may be late for the rendezvous, but we'll get there. Don't leave without us."_

**_"Understood. It sounds like the Director was right to send you and Agent Indiana along to assist the team._ **

_"Seems that way," Carolina agrees while muttering, "Can't say everyone on board feels the same."_

_**"All agents accounted for,"**  FILSS reports as she was programmed to,  **"Excellent work."**_

_"FILSS, I see a blank spot in the headcount," Carolina says this while taking charge of the controls in front of her as she checks if the information is correct, "Please verify."_

**_"We will see you at the rendezvous, Agent Carolina. Fly safe, and have a nice day."_ **

_Carolina decides not to question it and prepares to hang up, "Roger that, Carolina out."_

_"South, check out six," she calls back into the cargo bay._

_South lets Indiana get her brother into a secured seat before walking over to look through the rear window, "Heads up, we've got company back here."_

_Outside were two other ships right on their tail, moving fast and not looking happy._

_"Who are your friends?" Four-Seven-Niner asks._

_"Just some people we met at the party," Carolina responds slyly._

_The ship starts to rock as they begin to take some fire as Pilot answers with the same amount of sarcasm, "They seem nice."_

_As they continue to take fire, Four-Seven-Niner takes control and manoeuvers the ship as it dodges and eventually flies behind the two enemy ships, now floating in front of them._

_"Nice move; firing missiles," Carolina warns as she starts to fire._

_Both missiles take off but both enemy ships somehow avoid certain disaster. Now as their own ship begins to rock and turn, South stumbles into the cockpit, clutching the doorway, "Can't you get us out of here?"_

_" **I'm working on it,** " Four-Seven Nine snaps as a red light on the wall begins to flash and beep._

_"What's that noise?" South panics._

_"They have missile lock."_

_"That's bad."_

_"Yes, that's bad."_

_" **Take evasive manoeuvers!** " South eggs on._

_" **I'm trying,** " the female pilot growls._

_South rocks with the turbulence, still bitching on, "Well try harder!"_

_"Hey, South? Do me a favor, would ya?"_

_"What?"_

_The door slides shut in South's face and Four-Seven-Niner talks with a smug voice, "Thanks."_

_"You stupid bitch!"_

_As two missiles start honing in on their current position, Four-Seven-Niner desperately tries to avoid catastrophe while Carolina tries to help as much as she could, "Releasing flares."_

_The dropship spins and flies upside down to avoid getting hit as the flares try to create a diversion for the thermal-tracking missiles, but it was still no use. Meanwhile, Indiana was standing in front of a slouched over North Dakota, firmly hanging onto the barred straps keeping him firmly in his seat while his twin sister was practically flying around the room herself just to keep standing._

_"I hate flying!" South cursed._

_Indiana loses her grip on the bars during one spin of the ship and stumbles, "Turn on your gravity boots!"_

_South loses her balance and runs into the other female when trying to regain her footing, "Watch where you're going!"_

_"Hey!" Indiana snaps before the ship takes a nasty hit and the two female soldiers literally bump heads, both falling to the ground with a pained noise and blacking out. As they fall unconscious, the injured North begins to stir and raises his head, looking around and observing the situation._

_"Hey, everybody hold on back there," Four-Seven-Niner announces, "Things are gonna get a little, uh..."_

_"Bumpy?" Carolina tries to finish her sentence._

_"Yeah. Uh, well I was gonna say crashy, but yeah, bumpy works."_

_She leans the controls forward and the pelican flies down into an icy glacier canyon, the two enemy ships flying down and following them inside. They continue to rapidly fire missile after missile at Four-Seven-Niner's vessel, but they all miss and hit the canyon walls, all the while the solo ship was curving and swerving left to right to follow the canyon down to the very end until it opens up and they were forced to fly back out into the open air, clouds forming ahead._

_"Countermeasures depleted," Carolina reports while tapping into her comms, "North, get moving. I'm clearing you for equipment usage."_

_"Whatever you're gonna do back there, do it fast!" Four-Seven-Niner calls back._

_"Stay safe, kiddo," North coughs painfully while strapping an unconscious South into her seat, Indiana having already been strapped in before her._

_**"North. North!"**  Four-Seven-Niner calls through comms._

_But North doesn't hear her as his helmet was malfunctioning, the already struggling Freelancer was forced to take it off, dropping it to the floor before limping towards the ladder. Using his gravity boots, North was able to climb onto the roof of the ship without having too much trouble, revealing his face to have pale skin, hair, and eyes with the complimentary bloody nose and cut on the cheek._

_"Well, here goes nothing," North mutters to himself, hair whipping in the wind as he brings up his fist all the while the enemy ships' missiles draw closer. He grunts and with all his might, punches down on the roof of the ship, creating a force field around him and the vessel. He was just able to form the shield in time as it knocks back the missiles and they explode without damage._

_Their ship begins to fall from the impact it took, plummeting to their deaths as Carolina yells, "Pull up! Pull up!"_

_Four-Seven-Niner does so, leveling the pelican as Carolina gets a flashing signal on her screen, "There's the rendezvous. If we're going to make it, you better punch it!"_

_North jumps back down once he was clear, only to have his legs collapse underneath him, armor steaming from such equipment usage. Groaning, he falls to the floor, noticing out of the corners of his blurry vision that Indiana had regained consciousness before South, and she's unstrapping herself from the ship to run towards him._

_Outside, one of the enemy ships is blasted into smithereens, startling the Freelancer crew, "Whoa!"_

_From beyond the clouds arrives and massive ship, a headquarters if you will. The other fly-sized enemy ship decides to retreat, but not before the gigantic ship decides to blast it to sky high._

_"Mother of Invention, we're inbound," Four-Seven-Niner says through comms._

**_"We will have medical personnel waiting for you in the landing bay. Welcome home, Four-Seven-Niner."_ **

_"Thank you, FILSS. It's good to be home."_

_"You're okay," Indiana grunts while helping North Dakota up, taking off her helmet to avoid making him uncomfortable when he leans into her for support, "You did it."_

_He looks up and tries to smile at the beautiful woman in front of him. When she smiles back, he's met with short, black coffee hair and bright, emerald city eyes, her smile curling into a mischievous smirk as she helps him into a seat._


	3. Realignment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Find yourself more confused than when you first started reading? Don't worry, it gets worse :)

When Church thought he would have to go through his memories in order to find Tex, he didn't expect his memories to be so out of whack. He didn't think he would remember crazy stuff that never even happened at Blood Gulch, such as Donut shooting him in the foot, "Ow. Ow. Ow- ow."

As he finally limps all the way back to Blue Base, he is greeted by Caboose, who runs out of the base to welcome him, "Church! You're home. Welcome back."

"Yeah, yeah thanks for helping me while the Reds just shoot me in the goddamn foot," he hisses, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Yeah, well, you told us to stay on the cliff, and I did. Yeah, I was helping."

"Oh really, then why aren't you on the cliff right now?"

"Because you actually  _didn't_  tell us to do anything," Ghost appears behind Caboose, also being just as sarcastic.

"And I thought the helping part was over," Caboose pipes in.

" _Ow._  Ow. Ow, assholes, ow," Church cursed while limping away, only to stop when Tucker appears over him, standing on the top of the base.

"You're back already?"

"What do you mean  _'already'_?" Church snapped, "It took me half an hour to limp across this goddamn canyon."

"Yeah, but we thought they were gonna kill you. I expect you back,  _never_. So in my mind, you're early."

"Shut up."

"He is right about the two different times."

"You shut up, too," Church growls at Caboose.

"Alright, well now the helping part is  _definitely over,_ " Caboose announces while disappearing back inside the base.

"Anything from you?" Church spins his head in his female teammate's direction.

"Nope, just enjoying the show," Ghost comes back with.

"Dammit, y-gh- this is exactly what I get for trying to fix things," Church mutters under his breath while grabbing his leg as his foot throbs in pain.

"What're you fixing?" Tucker asked.

"Everything,  _us_ , the Reds, trying to make things the way they're supposed to be. Yngaw," Church groans, "My foot."

"Are you okay?"

Church sputters in disbelief, "--Am I ok- do I  _look_  okay... do I  _sound_  okay?"

"I don't know, you're wearing full body armor and bleeding. That means you're either dying or just whinning."

"Well, I'm hurt. Alright?"

Tucker decides to play nice and offer help, "You want me to call Command, have them send a Medic?"

Church is quick to shut down  _that_  request, " **No.**  No Medic. I'm not hurt  _that_  bad. Besides, those guys are just... bad luck."

Caboose appears again, "I already called Command."

"You did?" Church sounded betrayed, scandalized.

"Well, that was fast," Ghost observes.

"Caboose, you're not allowed to use the radio," Tucker eyes him knowingly, practically doting on Caboose like a child.

"Right, unless it's an emergency," Caboose recited, "And then I can use it to call Command. And also 800 numbers I see on TV. 'Cause those are free to call."

"800 numbers?" Church repeats.

"Dammit Caboose, what did you order this time?" Tucker demands.

Caboose suddenly realizes his mistake and his voice drops to something more high pitched, "Nothing."

Ghost puts her hands on her hips and tilts her helmet slightly, standing her ground to assert that she was starting off with a warning, "Caboose..."

Caboose knows better than to hide anything from Ghost or Tucker, "I promise you'll not see anything show up here that I ordered, nothing at all. For at least six to eight weeks."

"Dammit," Tucker muttered.

"What the hell is he talking about?" Church spasmed with annoyance.

"Well, you sound upset. You'll probably want some beef jerky. It'll be ready in six to eight weeks."

"You ordered a food dehydrator, didn't you," Tucker stated rather than asked.

"Oh, you won't be so mad when we're storing twice as much ammo as we normally can!"

"For the billionth time Caboose, you can't dehydrate bullets," Tucker groans.

"You actually order all those stupid gadgets that you see on TV?" Church asked Caboose.

"Maybe. Sometimes. And that Special Forces person also."

"You idiot," Tucker deadpans.

"Wait, what did you just say?" Church froze with realization.

"Oh, yes. Yes, they are sending someone to help us."

"Command is," Church repeats for confirmation, in case he heard that wrong.

"Yes," Caboose paused, "Unless that's bad, in which case I don't know what you're talking about."

Church starts to rant nonsense like it's nobody's business, "What-- they aren't supposed to send anybody 'til after I die!"

"We thought you  _were_  dead, dude. You walked into Red Base," Tucker clarified. 

"Gotta admit. You had balls going in there," Ghost shrugs, "And by balls, I mean balls filled with, ya know,  _idiocy_."

Church decides to ignore Ghost's usual snarky remarks, "Caboose, did they say  _who_  they were sending?"

Caboose started to slow down in speech, "Uh, ah-yes, they definitely did."

Church looks up at Tucker, exchanging the same look before also turning to Ghost as they all fell into silence, waiting.

"Okay, do you remember who they--"

"No."

"Goddammit."

~~~~~~~~~

_As his soldiers finally returned back onboard the Mother of Invention, the Director of Project Freelancer himself addresses his four agents after they returned from their mission, his hands -as always- behind his back and behind him was the big scoreboard, rating top to bottom of seven different agents, "The data you recovered has pinpointed the location of a very important target for Project Freelancer. Excellent work."_

_"Thank you, Sir," North, South, and Carolina respond almost simultaneously. Indiana, however, didn't say anything and just stood among her teammates silently. A usual behavior for her where the Director is concerned._

_"Counsellor, please update the board," the Director addresses his second in command, Counsellor Aiden Price, who jots down something on his datapad and the scoreboard behind the Director shifts two names, Agent South and North Dakota's names. South's name was now moved down to number six while her brother took her spot as number five. Carolina and Indiana respectively stay in their usual spots as numbers one and two._

_"That is all. Dismissed," the Director announces.  
_

_South is stunned, making almost startled or enraged movements before she rips off her helmet, meeting the Director with her brother's identical pale eyes and skin, but her short, pale hair had some dyed pink strands mixed up in there._

_"You said the mission was a success, Sir," she growled._

_The Director knew she would lash out and was quick with a response, "One of the mission objectives was stealth. Your carelessness revealed our intentions and made our next mission more difficult. They'll be ready for us. Dismissed."_

_South storms off without waiting for the others, Carolina turning to look up at the much taller North, "Think I should talk to her?"_

_"Your funeral," Indiana muttered under her breath as the three of them watched as South punches the control panel to open the door and breaks the panel, which falls to the floor on her way out._

_North turns back to the only other females in the room and shrugs, "Maybe we give her a minute."_

_Carolina nods and as North and Indiana start to head out of the room they were stopped when the Director called back out to them, "As for you, Agent Indiana and Agent North Dakota," the two said agents exchange a look underneath their helmets, Indiana knowingly rolling her head as another way of rolling her eyes to show her annoyance to North as they turn back to the Director, "Agent Carolina and I have come up with a strategic plan for our next target that we believe will be foolproof. We're sending you to yet another base where we'll need the two of you to pick up some... important cargo. We want the two of you to go in alone."_

_"Indi, you'll be the stealth. North, you'll be the eyes," Carolina steps in to inform them, "DO NOT be seen... or I'll have to come in and save your asses like today."_

_North and Indiana exchange looks, yet again, before Indiana turns back to the Director, "You've never assigned a mission to the two of us before. Why now?"_

_"Because results show that you both have exceeded in skills over the past couple of weeks and I am always searching for results. I want the two of you to be partners in this mission and I expect even better results if you work together. Dismissed."_

_Carolina nods to the two of them as they leave the room, and once the door slides shut behind them, Indiana turns to North, "It's suspicious."_

_"Hey, I don't like it either," North encourages, "But he's always like that when you're involved. I  don't think he's trying to figure something out. I think he actually noticed that we've been working well together lately and he wants to see how far that goes whether it's on the field or not."_

_"Maybe," Indiana trails off as she starts walking down the hallway, North only having to take a few steps with his long legs to catch up with her._

_"I'm not saying you don't respect him, but I've never really heard you address him as **'Sir'**  before either. Why's that?"_

_"He can't do anything to me even if I ever purposely questioned his authority and he knows it. Let's just say that," the female Freelancer responds, motioning with the tilt of her head, "Come on. I bet Wash is in the break room waiting to hear from us."_

_North doesn't question it further, letting the subject go for now as he follows her down the hallway._


	4. Familiar Feelings

"Okay, Caboose, think back. When you called Command, about the Special Forces person, what did they say to you?"

For what felt like hours, Church has been trying to get Caboose to remember anything important Command might have said while talking to their dark blue soldier, and so far it's had little to no results.

"They said,  _'This is Command, we read you Blue Base'._ "

Church deadpanned, "After that."

" _'Roger. Over and out'._ "

Church tries backtracking more, "Before that. Somewhere between those two. Goodbye and hello are not the important parts of the conversation."

"No, I know, and my name isn't even Roger. Although that is a very cool name. I wonder if it fits.  _'Roger, shut up.' 'Roger, don't put that in your mouth.' 'Roger, put that down.' 'Roger, will you please be my best friend? Signed, Church! P.S., your new name is the best. I like it. Signed Church. Again'_."

" **What did they tell you in the middle?**  What did they say- I need you to focus, Caboose."

When Caboose doesn't answer, Church sighs in defeat and corrects himself, "Hugh, my-- I need you to focus,  _Roger_."

"Okay. They said that since one of our troops was hurt, and since we're outnumbered, they would send us a Special Agent to help us recover."

"And they said that Agent would be here..."

"Yes."

"No, no. Not- not yes. When?"

"When I was on the call with them."

"I mean the Special Agent."

"No, no- see the operator said that."

" _When?_ "

"When I called Command. How else would they tell me?"

"Okay, stop stop stop stop stop stop stop. Let's just, go through this step by step, okay? You called Command."

"Yes."

"And they said they were sending a Special Agent."

"Yes."

"To our base."

"Yes."

"When did they say, the Special Agent was coming?"

"Oh, right before they gave me my new nickname."

" **Goddammit Caboose,**  alright just forget it!" Church yells while walking away.

Caboose calls after him, "Naw- see it's Roger now, remember? See I know it can be confusing sometimes, Church, you have to keep up."

Tucker walks up to him, curious about all the yelling, "Hey Roger, what's wrong with Church?"

"Oh, I don't know, he's having trouble understanding something. You know how he is with that."

Ghost then walks up right next to Tucker, "Hey, Roger. I need your help with blowing something up. Let's go."

"Okay!" Caboose cheers excitedly and follows the female soldier away, causing Tucker to scowl and mutter to himself.

_"Hch, I could help you blow things up, Ghost. Bow chicka bow wo-!"_

**"TUCKER!"**

Tucker yelps and runs off to find Church as an excuse to get away before he ended up dying before he could actually live. He looks down from his perch on top of the base to see Church practically running around the deadbeat tank, yelling at it.

"Sheila, turn on, hey- uh, activate! Uh, uh-oh, Phyllis! Phyllis, I command you. Start!"

Tucker decides to investigate and walks down to ground level to meet with Church, "What the fuck are you doing?"

"I'm trying to turn on the damn tank."

"By yelling at it? Why don't you just use the key?"

"You have keys for the tank?" Church asked, almost excitedly.

"Nah, they didn't send 'em."

Church's shoulders slouch, "Oh, thanks, you're a big help."

"Me? I'm not the one yelling at the tank. Hey, the TV is on the fritz too, you wanna come inside and yell at  _it?_  Maybe you could insult its mother or something."

"I need to get the tank running before Tex shows up."

" _Right_ , the Secret Agent who also just happens to be your girlfriend," Tucker mutters sarcastically, obviously having already heard of Church's ridiculous stories.

Church fumbles over his words, "It's... complicated."

"And you think if you have a tank, that's gonna impress her."

"No, I need it to defend us, in case things get a little... outta hand, with her. Like I said, it's--"

"Complicated?"

"Yeah, complicated."

Caboose and Ghost both pop out of nowhere, apparently already done with their mischief while Caboose cuts into the conversation, "I had a girlfriend once."

"Nobody cares," Tucker was quick to reply all the while Ghost was too shocked to come up with something.

"I met her on the Internet."

"Aw, man, your girlfriend was a dude."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you, Tucker?" Ghost chuckles.

"Fuck off, Ghost."

"Her name was Emilia," Caboose continues without skipping a beat, "She would send me letters all the time."

"Sounds high-maintenance," Tucker acknowledged flatly.

"Letters from my family. Letters about stuff I ordered online. Even about investment opportunities in other Countries."

"What!? Dude, I don't think your girlfriend's name was Emilia. I think it was Email. I'm pretty sure you fell in love with your email."

Caboose had begun to break and his voice cracked at the painful memories, "She was always there for me. Until I forgot our special word."

"You mean your  _password_."

"She never forgave me," Caboose sobbed.

Tucker decides to just go with it, "Well, then I guess you should have made out with her sister, Voicemilia."

Caboose broke out of his trance and scoffed, "Oh, she talked too much. And she always blinked at me."

Church is obviously not paying attention, as he is still hung up on the tank, " _Aw, you stupid tank._  Just start."

"Dude, give it up," Tucker groaned, "Stop working on the tank. You can't pick up chicks in a tank anyway."

Church and Ghost both turned to Tucker, stunned, " _What_?"

"Actually, now that I say it out loud, I guess you  _could_  pick up chicks in a tank. Well,  _I_  could,  _you_  can't. So stop messing with it," he tells Church.

"I  **have**  to do something."

"You wanna impress a girl, just listen to  _me_. School's in session, about to start the master class. Professor Fuck, that's me."

"Oh, this just got interesting," Ghost huffed amusingly while crossing her arms, waiting for the show to begin.

Tucker takes his entire team to the beach since apparently, you can just fuck all logic when it comes to Church remembering things correctly.  

"Alright, the class is in session. Students line up over here; teacher on this side."

"I'm not doing this," Church stated.

"Dude, you've got a girl coming over. You don't know what to say to her. You need my help. And the first set of lessons is free."

"How are you qualified to teach us this stuff?"

"Are you kidding me?" 

"No, no I'm not kidding. How are you qualified? You talk about girls all the time, I've never seen you with one."

"You've seen me with Ghost!" Tucker motions over to their female teammate, who looks around at her team.

"Yeah, uh I'm not affiliated with him."

Tucker stutters as the ground slightly shakes beneath him, "I'm- I have lots of- okay, just shut up and listen. Stay quiet, and hold all your questions to the end. Now before we start, does anyone have any questions?"

Caboose is apparently taking this seriously, "Uh yes. I would like to--"

"Ah ha! That was a trick question. You're supposed to hold all questions 'til the end."

"Oh, yeah?" Church challenged, "Why didn't you hold your trick questions until the end then?"

"The rules don't apply to me."

"Well maybe my question was a... magic question, too," Caboose tried defending himself.

"Yeah, abracadabra. You're an idiot," Tucker states, "So, we've already learned our first lesson. The rules don't apply to you. Girls like a rebel, someone outside the law."

"Like a criminal?" Caboose asks, and apparently, Tucker is now throwing the questions rule out the window as he is quick to answer. 

"Mmm, it depends on the crime. Nothing with animals; see, they want someone with a free and independent spirit. Something that they can crush into a raw material that can then be molded into what they really want."

"What  _do_  they really want?" Caboose asks, and Ghost is honestly impressed with all the good question he's asking.

"They don't know. Which is why you have to tell them what they want, without actually telling them what to do," Tucker, however, is starting to plant himself on Ghost's kill list.

"That sounds hard."

"That's why we're doing lessons."

"Um, should I- should I be taking notes?"

"Do you even know how to write?"

"Is that another trick question? Can I answer it at the end?"

"Getting bored here," Church pitches in.

Tucker gets back on track, "Okay, then let's do some role-playing. I'll give you critiques on your approach."

"Roleplaying?" Church repeats.

"Yeah. Caboose, you play the girl."

"You want Caboose to be the woman?" Church asked with disgust.

"Dude, it's a lot bigger stretch for you to play a man, trust me."

"Um, u- okay, what should I say?" Caboose asks nervously.

"Just say whatever a girl would say," Tucker advises.

"Uh-u-okay, um, I uh, I just really want to meet someone nice, uh you know someone to appreciates me for who I am. Not so much because I'm pretty but because they really want to get to know me because they want to find out what my interests are and... then we can spend time exploring the world together and sharing all the wonderful things in life that make it wonderful."

Ghost hums, "Impressive."

Tucker is too stunned to talk at first before shutting Caboose down, "What? Do you know girls at all? Talk about how much you like shoes."

"Yeah, and about reality TV shows," Church adds.

"Jesus Christ," Ghost groans.

Tucker starts instructing, "Here, Church, you start, just hit on Caboose. Caboose, act like you like Church."

"I've been preparing for this role my whole life."

"Shut up. Okay, Church. Your girlfriend just got to base, you see her, and you say..."

Church doesn't sound all that into it, "Uh, hey. Hey there."

Caboose changes his voice, "Hello! Giggle! Blinking eyelashes ...puppies!"

"Alright, I'm out, I can't do this," Church says uncomfortably.

"Don't be a baby," Tucker huffs, "Caboose, stop making sound effects. You're a girl now, girls can't make sound effects."

"Quietly angry," both Caboose and Ghost mutter simultaneously.

"And stop narrating."

"Okay. Fine," Caboose sasses with a voice like Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory.

"There you go, that's it. That's a girl. Okay Church, hit it,  _action._ "

Church stutters, "Uh, uh, hey. Uh, what're you doing, what's up? Uh, what's up with what you're doing?"

"Smooth. Caboose?"

"Hhm, okay, uh- I was just sitting here thinking about shoes, and celebrities that only have first names."

"Perfect."

"Kill me now," Ghost begs at the sky.

"Actually if you want the truth I feel like I have to say these things to make myself more appealing when I really think that I should just--"

"Stop it," Tucker orders Caboose.

"Okay sorry," he clears his throat, " _O_ _kay sorry._ "

"Church, say something rebellious."

"Uh, okay, I think the working class, should uprise against the rich people."

"I said rebellious, not revolutionary," Tucker deadpans while Ghost is trying not to laugh in the background.

"Oh, okay. I drive a fast car over the speed limit. All the time."

"I will go with you anywhere!"

"See? It's easy!" Tucker exclaims.

"You're all fucking idiots," Ghost growls.

"Oh, yeah?" Church snaps back, "Well, how about you teach me how to talk to a girl? Ya know since you're a GIRL."

"One, I'm a woman, asshole. Two, I want to see you suffer. And three, I love watching the three of you make a bunch of idiots of yourselves."


	5. Partners in Crime

_Agent Indiana peers around the corner of the compound, counting only a few men guarding the door. Looking for a way to sneak past them, she spots a pipe above her and smirks underneath her green helmet, grabbing her grappling hook from her belt and aiming up. Taking an educated guess with the trajectory, she fires and the grappling hook swings around the pipe successfully, one part of the hook jabbing a hole into the metal and causing the pipe to burst into smoke, creating the perfect cover the Freelancer needed. With the Insurrection men now scattering around the area to check out what's happening, Indiana quietly sneaks around, silently strangling the men one by one and stuffing them in a nearby storage unit._

_Once the smoke clears and the place looks untouched of any alarms or other guards, Indiana sighs and taps into her comms, "Alright, sharpshooter, phase one is complete. I'm moving in."_

**_"Wow, already? You know I'm so used to having South assist me on all these stealth missions, I actually forgot what the word stealth really means. It's still a ghost town up here."_ **

_"Well, no offense to your twin, North, but South and I have very different definitions of stealth. For example, I actually enjoy being able to come home from a successful day of kicking ass every day," Indiana entertains while she walked around tight corners of the station, always checking her six and keeping her voice down._

_**"Tell me about it,"**  North replies through comms, **"I bet South is tearing the Director a new one for making her stay cooped up back at base for this."**_

_"Who, South? No way..." Indiana's tone flattens to a sarcastic purr, feeling a smirk tug on her lips, "Seriously, which of you inherited traits from your father, and which one from your mother?"_

**_"Unfortunately, South got her... personality from our old man."_ **

_"Does she have daddy issues or something?"_

**_" Or something sounds about right. What about you?"_ **

_"I don't really know. I guess my brother and I have been on our own for so long, I guess I forgot what it's like to have a parent."_

_Indiana finds her destination and walks cautiously towards the big door at the center of the compound, checking the padlock before cursing, "Dammit, door's locked."_

**_"What did you expect?"_ **

_"Usually, this is York's thing."_

**_"Well, can you make it your thing?"_ **

_Indiana looks around before hatching a plan, "Sure I can, but you're not gonna like it."_

**_"How so?"_ **

_"'Cause I'm about to pull a South Dakota," she grins before taking out her gun and shooting the padlock, triggering the alarm and for some loud footsteps coming her way, "Could use the backup!"_

_She stands there, waiting with her hip popped and hands on her hips while the enemy soldiers come running around the corner, guns grasped tightly in their hands._

_As they aim their rifles, Indiana just grins as a separate gun is fired off in the distance and causing each soldier to fall dead on the ground, one by one. Looking up, she sees the holes in the metal walls cause by the estranged bullets, and beyond those holes lies North's perch where he could see her through thermal imaging._

_"You know... I just realized something."_

**_"And what's that?"_ **

_"You and I don't train together enough. We should spar sometime."_

**_"Well, well, well, and I thought I would have to take you out to dinner first, Indiana."_ **

_"That was supposed to be an invitation, North. Take it or leave it. Don't get too excited," Indiana's tone flattens, but North knew better than to take her seriously. She's rarely ever serious, and even then she's always teasing. He wouldn't take any remark from her to heart._

_Indiana does her thing and kicks down the newly damaged doors, heading into the empty control room and leaning over one computer. Typing in a few things, the alarm suddenly stops and it became dead quiet like they were never here. No more soldiers come in to attack so she can easily assume the rest went back to their posts now that the alarm went quiet. Now onto the task at hand, Indiana slides over to the main computer, noticing that the data chip she was meant to take was stuck in the computer and wouldn't come out. It was securely fastened._

_"Thanks to your sister, my job just got harder," Indiana muttered, unamused._

**_"Hey, now. Those are fighting words."_ **

_"They are. I never said they weren't," Indiana turns around to examine the room, trying to find something she could pry the chip out of the computer with. Without finding some sort of key for the computer, Indiana draws her weapon of choice, the knife, and starts trying to loosen the chip with it, but to no avail._

_She sighs, looking over the entire computer that just happens to be the same size as her while thinking out loud, "Now how am I going to get this out of here?"_

_**"Can't you just pick it up?"** North asks, clearly not able to see what objective she has to deal with._

_"Can I pick it up?" She repeats sarcastically, "What a fantastic idea! Maine is team muscle, not me!"_

**_"I thought you once said you were stronger than Maine."_ **

_"Metaphorically, not physically. In words, not deeds."_

**_"Well, you need to get creative and fast. I don't know when their back up will be arriving... if they even notice that half of their men are dead."_ **

_Indiana looks down at her feet to think of an idea, suddenly noticing her boots and thinking about her rocket boosters attached to her heels. Looking between her feet and the computer, the green Freelancer grins, "Hey, North. You ever been to a ranch or a rodeo for that matter?"_

**_"Don't think so. Why?"_ **

_"I got an idea, and I'll need you to cover me once I get the package up and running."_

**_"What are you doing?"_ **

_"Just be ready for me."_

_She sits down on the floor and uses her knife to pry the rocket boosters out of her suit and attaches them to the computer once she's freed it from the wall. She springs up, climbing onto the computer and activating the boosters. The whole computer starts to move and she grips a knife in one hand and a gun in the other. The boosters pick up in speed and soon the computer was flying uncontrollably towards a nearby wall. Indiana hangs on as best as she could as she crashes through the wall, and is immediately targetted by the Insurrection men once she flies over their heads and into the courtyard. Shots are fired by her ear and she channels into her comms,_

_"Where's my backup, Mister Sharpshooter?"_

_As she's flying aimlessly around the compound with the computer, North does his best to snipe anyone who dares aims their guns at her or even if they try to run or warn their allies._

_**"Is that the longest you've ever ridden a bucking bronco?"**  North asks as he continues to shoot._

_"First time actually! I've always sat on the sidelines watching those things!" Indiana nearly falls from all the excitement and grabs the side of her helmet, "FILSS where's our extraction?!" She yells into the comms, and almost right on cue, that familiar dropship flies just overhead and Indiana hears that familiar voice in her earpiece._

**_"You rang?"_ **

_"You always did have perfect timing, Four-Seven-Niner," Indiana smiled, while addressing the ship and looking at North, who was now in her view, "On three. You open the ramp and I jump off. North, catch me. One... two... three!"_

_The boosters drive the computer forward and both it and Indiana go flying towards the ship, the cargo door slowly opening and North extending his arm out as they pass by. Indiana reaches up and grabs his arm and North swings her towards him while the computer continues to fly onward and into the ship, Four-Seven-Niner quickly closing the cargo bay door behind it._

_Indiana lets go of North's arm once she's standing on her own two feet next to him and straightens herself up, sighing as she puts away her weapons._

_"Nice entrance," North comments, now off the comms since they stood side to side._

_"Thank you. Now, I made sure that their communications would be down for the next five minutes. Until then, no one will ever know what happened here..." she says this while drawing a sniper rifle, grinning underneath her helmet when North tilts his head, "You're not the only sharpshooter here, Dakota."_

_Before he knew it, North found himself in a shooting contest with Indiana, the two of them practically working together and taking down their enemy as a team effort. It was almost like a dance, smooth and graceful without any words needed to communicate between them. They just knew what to do and soon enough, one last man was standing alive and running away. North had him in his sights and took a breath, resting his fingers against the trigger..._

_Only to have Indiana shoot the last man before he could even get a chance._

_"Yes!" Indiana cheered slightly, "FILSS, who won this round's headcount?"  
_

**_"Once again, Agent North Dakota takes the lead."_ **

_"Ha!" North brags as the pelican comes back for them and they hop on without having a fuss over jumping onto it and escaping danger since the danger was already dealt with._

_"Hey, I'm getting better," Indiana pretends to pout._

_"Yes, in no time you'll be surpassing the teacher, my dear pupil." North reaches over and pats her shoulder, only to have Indiana reach up in response. North thought she was going to swat his hand away, but instead, her fingers wrap around his glove and pull him off her shoulder, bringing their hands to hold in between them. North could feel his lips twitch up involuntarily, and he was positive, even without seeing her underneath her helmet, that Indiana was smiling, too._

_"Let's get the hell out of here." He orders without taking his eyes off of her and the ship takes off._


	6. Shaking the Foundation

Ghost and Church walk up to Tucker just as another shake of the earth transpires, and the aqua armored soldier says as much, "Whoa, there's another quake."

"Yup," Church confirms.

Ghost hums while deep in thought, "They just keep coming now."

Tucker noticed the chill vibes Church was giving out, "You don't seem too worried."

As the earthquake stops, Church turns to Tucker, "No I'm not. Because I know all this, isn't real."

"Not real? You mean not-real like your fake girlfriend?"

"My g- no no no, my  _girlfriend_  is real, it's the  _world_ that's fake. Ya know, everything in it."

Caboose runs up to the rest of his team, "Aah  _earthquake!_ "

"That was ten seconds ago," Church grumbles, "Man, you really need to get your reflexes checked."

"Maybe I was just early for the next one. Now you'll be ready for when it happens."

"Oh, shut up."

"Meteor."

"So everything in the world is fake, except your girlfriend," Tucker tries recapping.

"Right," Church nods.

"Who's in the world."

"Yes."

"Where everything is fake."

"Correct."

"Cause that makes  _perfect_  sense," Ghost rolls her helmet as a more visible way to roll her eyes.

Caboose appears to agree, "Well, I am following all of this as well as I follow everything else."

Church, again, tries to explain, "You see, all this, see- okay, we're just, inside a memory unit, which is sitting in a snowbank, somewhere in the real world."

"A snowbank?" Tucker questions.

"Right, and that memory unit is  _dying_ , so, we're feeling all these like you know, little quakes and stuff."

"If we're in a snowbank, why isn't it cold?"

"I don't know, it, it- it doesn't work like that it's, it's like being inside of a snowglobe."

"Yeah, but a snowglobe has snow in it."

"Not all!" Ghost argues, "My favorite snowglobe as a kid was from Hawaii so there wasn't snow in it. It was sand."

Church looks at her, bewildered, "How do you REMEMBER that?"

"What do you mean? I was, like, twelve at the time I got it. Why  _wouldn't_  I remember that?"

"So, wait. You remember everything?"

"Uh, yes?"

"What's your brother's name?"

Ghost and the others were obviously confused by the weird questions their leader was throwing at them, "I don't have a brother, dumbass. My sister's name is Lea."

"LEA?!" Church explodes, "You don't have a sister named- ugh, you know what nevermind."

"I thought it was a globe made of snow," Caboose admits, getting back on track.

Church groans, "Ugh, you're not getting it- okay, try to think of it as like, uhh... it's like a diorama."

"Ah yes, a cafeteria for dinosaurs."

"Shut up, Caboose."

"Thai food."

Ghost huffs, "Great, now you made me hungry. We should raid that fat yellow soldier's secret stash tonight."

"So this memory snowbank thing," Tucker tells Church, "It's just sitting there, and we're inside it doing all this stuff. Why?"

"I don't know, I- I guess it's so that I can, you know, figure out about Tex and... what I'm supposed to do. And if I can't figure it out well, then I just need to... move on to the  _next_  memory unit I guess."

"Riiight. And that's about finding those Freelancer guys you talked about before."

"Exactly."

"And going on some  _big_  adventure with them and finding the snow memory."

" **Memory unit**."

"Whatever, and then going into it."

"Yes."

"Even though we're already inside it."

"And so on, and so forth."

"And so on and so on, until what happens?"

"I-I don't know. If I knew that I could stop already."

"And we have to do all that before the memory unit laying in the snow, dies, and we're all crushed by falling rocks."

And just as Tucker finishes his sentence, a giant boulder falls from above, convincing him to retract his earlier statement, "Good timing."

"Yeah, it was," Church agrees.

"Well, if only there had been some type of warning system in place," Caboose comments.

"Okay, I think it all makes sense now," Tucker concludes.

Church slurs, "Uh, good, I'm glad."

"Dude, that was a fucking joke, I have no clue what's up."

"You know, it doesn't seem that hard to me, man."

"Uh, no, still confusing as shit," Ghost defends Tucker.

"I know one way to check," Tucker explains before turning to Caboose, "Hey, Caboose, explain what's going on. Recap for us."

"We're going to eat lunch with dinosaurs."

"Yep, perfect sense."

" _I_ _'m going to eat a giant egg!_ "

"Ya no- okay okay, it's like when a computer tries to solve a problem. Do you know what recursion, is?"

"Yeah I, I love that movie," Caboose agrees.

"No no it's like, it's like the thing where a computer tries a number of different iterations to solve a problem, then when it gets to the end, it returns all those solutions back up the line to the  _first_ iteration, and then it has its solution. Does that make sense?"

Tucker just rolls with it, "You're saying you're a computer."

"No no no, no, actua- well actually yes, yeah sort of I'm actually, I am, a computer, kind of I'm, well I'm a computer program."

"But your foot is bleeding."

"Yeah, and you're not that smart," Ghost adds.

"And your breath kinda stinks," Caboose finishes, "You know I, I wasn't gonna say anything before but you know since we're, all telling the truth about each other..."

"Caboose, you're an idiot."

"Well, I didn't realize how much words could hurt until it was my turn. I don't think I wanna play this honesty game anymore."

"No I- I'm a real person in  _here_  because this is all constructed. By memories of the person that I'm based on. Same as me - I'm all the memories of that guy."

"Who is that?" Tucker asks.

"It's another program called Alpha who is, kind of a dick. And he was based on a guy named The Director. Who was, also, kind of a dick."

"Well, I can see you're continuing with the grand tradition."

Church mutters sarcastically, "Yeah, I'm very proud."

"It's quite a lineage."

"I grew up on a moon."

Church, Ghost, and Tucker all turn to Caboose, "Nobody cares."

"You're all just jealous."

"And this girl who's coming is that original guy's girlfriend," Tucker goes back on topic.

"Yeah, I think I don't remember exactly."

"I thought you were that guy's memory?"

"No, I'm the  _other_  guy's memory, the middle one."

"Did  _he_  have a girlfriend?" Caboose asked.

"No-- wait maybe."

"Dude, I don't know how any of you got any girlfriends spouting all this sci-fi bullshit. You guys ever talk about football for God's sakes?" Tucker exclaimed.

"Look, I just know I'm supposed to meet this girl, and I'm supposed to fall in love."

"Wow. How romantic," Ghost slides.

"Yeah, and then what happened?" Caboose urges Church.

"I don't know! We, we do whatever people do when they fall in love."

Ghost grinned, "And you know PLENTY about that, do you?"

"Shut up, neither do you."

"According to you, I'm a  _girl_ , remember? I'm supposed to know."

"I'm asking a specific question," Caboose was taking this too seriously, "You should give me a specific answer."

"What are you taking notes?"

"No... maybe."

"My job is to solve this problem or pass it along. That's it."

"So you follow this girl down through the levels of the memory iterations, and you basically try to figure out how to make things work. Even though she doesn't like you," Tucker tries making sense of this.

"She likes me she's just-- you know--"

"Mean."

"Yeah, thanks Caboose. She's mean."

"Yeah, it was an easy guess. You know 'cause all girls are pretty much mean."

"It's a smart guess for  _you_ , Caboose," Ghost deadpans.

"Can I just say, this might be,  _the_  creepiest stalker scenario I've ever heard. And I've made a few myself," Tucker injects.

"What?!"

"You kiss a dead girl through a memory, and every time she escapes you, you either follow her down to the next set of memories or resurrect her in some way. Only to do it all over again."

"That's not stalkerish that's... romantic."

"Riiight," Ghost trails off.

"You know what the difference between stalking and romance is? Romance happens in movies. In real life, it's called stalking," Tucker informs.

"Well, maybe all of this is happening inside of a movie," Caboose suggests as Ghost starts hearing a hissing sound.

"Tch, oh please, who the fuck would watch that movie? All we ever do is stand around and talk," Tucker scoffs as he looks down and notices a grenade sitting between the Blue team's formed circle, "Hey, you dropped your grenade."

"That's not mine," Church defends, "Caboose, pick that up."

"I'm not allowed to carry grenades, remember? Because of that one exploding time? Which was no one's fault."

"Well, I didn't drop it. Tucker, count yours."

"I have a readout on my helmet dummy, I don't need to count."

"Oh, right. Ghost?"

"All of mine are back at the base."

"Well, it  _has_  to be somebody's'."

They all stand in silence for a moment, staring down at the grenade before they all came to the same conclusion.

"Fuck, somebody threw a grenade at us, didn't they."

"Yeah, we probably should have figured that out sooner, right?"

**BOOM!**

"Aah!"


	7. Captive Audience

_North was leaning against the wall, arms folded while deep in thought. His last mission with Indiana was a success, and it impressed the Director, but that still didn't stop the heat he was getting from using equipment in the field. Even if Indiana could somehow persuade the Director that it was the right decision for all the wrong reasons, North doubted it would cut him from any losses. It still troubled him with how Indiana was so sure the Director won't just cut her from the program if she ever misbehaved in front of him. Her confidence drives North up the wall with the curiosity as to why she's so sure of herself._

_Wash suddenly walks by and North suddenly breaks out of his thoughts, "Hey, Wash, wait up!" He catches up to the younger Freelancer without worry, "Listen, I heard you had a meeting with Internals."_

_Agent Washington, one of the youngest members of the team, sounded almost emotionless or tired to the statement, "Oh, you did?"_

_"Yeah, do you mind if I ask what it was about?"_

_"Hm, not really supposed to talk about that."_

_"Help me out here..." North says while slowing down to a halt, "I'm still getting heat about using equipment in the field."_

_Washington stops at that, too, his voice suddenly going back to a higher, normal pitch for Wash, "You did? Really? Without a pipeline back to the Command server?"_

_"I had to improvise. We had a problem," North reasons._

_"Let me guess, are you **related**  to the problem?"_

_"Okay, now **I**  don't wanna talk about it," North mutters as they start walking down the hallway again._

_"How is it the Director even allowed you to go on that recon mission with Indiana?"_

_North smiles, knowing that Wash couldn't see it, "Because she likes me and she's got the Director wrapped around her finger. Come on. You know I'm right."_

_Wash just shakes his head, "Equipment in the field... Y'know don't forget what happened to Utah during training, you're lucky it didn't kill you."_

_"If I was lucky, I wouldn't have needed to use it at all."_

_"Well, you can relax," Wash reassures as some of their men began to run past them down the hallways, "Internals didn't ask about you. It was something else, lots of questions about the insurrection and, transmissions coming out of our--"_

_One of the men bumps into Wash and was quick to stop and apologize for it, "Sorry, Sir."_

_"Hey, what's going on?" Wash asked, dazed and confused and he stopped the man from taking off again, "Soldier, where is everybody running?"_

_"New agent, squaring off against Maine, Wyoming, and York on the training room floor. We're going to watch! Hey guys, wait up!" The guy calls after his friends and takes off running down the hallway again, leaving North and Wash to stand there, stunned._

_"Three on one?" North repeats._

_"I gotta see this," Wash stated, amused at the idea._

_"Yeah, right behind you," North also appeared interested as the two of them follow the soldiers to the training room._

~~~~~~~~~

A bright white flash blinded the Blues and Church was the first to properly react, "Ow what the hell was that!? I can't see anything! Tucker, where are you? Ghost, you there? Caboose, are you dead? I hope so."

As Church talks, the three of them continue to act confused while the flash of white light wears off, but now they're temporarily blind and have ringing sounds in their ears, causing to yell in order to even hear themselves.

" _Son of a bitch!_ " Ghost yells.

"Ow, what was that?" Tucker asks.

"I think it was a flashbang, I can't see," Church panics.

"WHAT?" Caboose screams.

"Well, it's a good name because it definitely went flash and bang."

"No shit, Sherlock!" Ghost hissed at Tucker.

"Fuck you, Watson!"

"Oh, you would love that, wouldn't you?!"

"Bow chicka bow wow!"

"WHAT?" Caboose keeps screaming.

Church started panicking more, "Oh my God, are we under attack? Is it the Reds?"

"I don't know, I can't see anything either. My mother always said I would go blind, but for a totally different reason," Tucker yells back.

" **WHAT?** "

"Caboose, stop saying 'what.' You can't hear."

"Can of beer? But this is not the time!"

"You are NEVER allowed to have any alcohol," Ghost groaned while painfully clutching her head.

Church tries to get to Caboose, " _Y_ _ou're deaf._ "

"Oh no!" Caboose cried, "I had so much to live for!"

"No, you didn't!" Tucker yells while backing up into Church by accident, startling the both of them and making them jump away from each other, "What was that? Something just hit me!"

"Something just hit me, too."

"Is it another grenade?"

"We're under attack! Open fire!"

They all start firing randomly into the air, except Ghost who just groans irritably and crouches down to ground level to avoid any stray bullets, since Caboose is known for team kills and the others are acting too crazy to worry about actually hitting her. And she can't fire with fire so she'll just have to wait until her boys run out of bullets.

"Ah, get some!" Tucker shouts.

"Take that fucker!" Church cusses.

Just out of firing range from the Blues stood Agent Texas herself, just watching the scene and groaning in annoyance.

"What a bunch of idiots,"

Through the gunfire and smoke, Tucker turns to Ghost, or who he thinks is Ghost and starts screaming over the ringing in his ears, "Ghost, I love you and I want you to marry me!"

"Um, no."

"What? Why not?"

"This is all happening so fast," Ghost decides to mess with him a little bit and grins once the firing dies down, "You haven't even taken me out to dinner yet."

"We're living in a canyon!"

"Also, unlike Caboose, I have standards."

"That's not true... my turds don't stand up, silly," Caboose giggles after he recovered his hearing.

"And another thing. You have a reputation, Tucker," Ghost reminds him.

" _Reputation_?"

"You fucked Grif's sister."

"And you ain't fucking mine, Tucker!"

"Um, Church? I'm not your sister."


	8. Lifting the Veil

_Maine tosses the grenade before Tex could do something about it. She leans out of the way, but when she turns to see where it would land, she feels a spark in her panic when she sees York just only starting to stand up as the grenade lands beside him._

_"Hey!"_

_When York turns to look, he sees Tex's arm spark and instead uses her other good arm to shoot him all full of paint just before the grenade goes off, blowing up in York's face and sending him flying, screaming in pain._

_"Ah!"_

_"Shit!" Chaos suddenly blows up in everyone's faces. Alarms start blaring and soldiers freeze in their spots, cussing at the scene._

_"Dammit, those maniacs!" Wash curses as he and the rest of the Freelancers watching the training session run out of the room and rush onto the floor._

_Indiana was one of the first to make down into the training room first, looking around before breaking into a run towards the soldier lying helplessly on the floor, "Oh, fuck! York!"_

_"Look what those fuckers are doing!" Another soldier watching comments._

_Carolina was in a state that appeared she was remaining calm, but her voice was definitely higher as she radioed in the ship's A.I., "FILSS, we need a medic to the training floor STAT!"_

**_"Medical team en route. Please remain calm."_ **

_She follows the other Freelancers from the room and rushes onto the floor, joining Indiana by kneeling down beside their injured teammate, "York, York! Get over here now!" She screams at the nearby medical team as they approach._

_"Ouhhh..." York manages to let out as Indiana rolls him onto his side, holding his shoulder in place as she feared he might have dislocated it. But their main concern was the definite breaking of York's helmet visor and possibly glass and other debris in his eye._

_"Is he gonna be okay?" Wash asks with panic in his voice._

_"Come on York, hang in there," Carolina tries to comfort as she and Indiana finally back away when the medics arrived, letting them do their work._

_"Can't believe she did that to him," even South's voice sounded shaken, while in the background a medic tries to help Maine up only for the big guy to push him away and yell at him to get off, "Shot his armor... sacrificed him."_

_"Lockdown **hardens**  the armor," Wash informs, "She probably saved his life."_

_"Quick thinking," North comments, watching Indiana out of the corner of his eye once she went strangely silent._

_"Yeah," Carolina agrees while she eyes medics helping Tex up from some distance away, "Real quick."_

_"Everyone! Stand down, now!" The Director orders as he enters the room, the alarms stop blaring at his voice as the uninjured Freelancers all lineup and turn their chins up and eyes forward out of respect._

_"You should be ashamed o' yourselves," The Director disapproves in his deep accent, hands, yet again, behind his back, "I expect you to act as a team."  
_

_Washington breaks from the formation, however, and addresses the Director directly, "They used live ammunition on the floor, Sir, that's against regulations--!"_

_"Do you think our enemies will care about regulations on the battlefield, Agent Washington?" The Director growls, pursuing the young agent and driving Wash to back up and for the other Freelancers to eye each other with hidden stunned expressions._

_Washington stutters, just as puzzled by the Director's outburst when he turns away from them, "So, y- you're not punishing them?"_

_"Ingenuity, and adaptability, are **admirable**  traits," his eyes land on Agent Indiana at this moment, who never breaks away from the formation, apparently not as stunned by his outburst as the rest of them. The Director stands directly in front of her and glares at her knowingly, but she doesn't say a word. She just stares right back through her helmet. _

_If the Director was intimidated by her eery silence and hard cold stare, he didn't show it, "You should all learn something from this," he pulls away from Indiana and walks off just as Agent Connecticut joins the crew, "Dismissed."_

_"Yeah. We should've learned something, alright," C.T. muttered, earning a side glance from Indiana once she finally broke away from her posture, pondering on the other female's words._

_"I can't believe this!" Wash pitches, all the while Carolina appeared dazed, still eyeing Tex suspiciously._

_"Don't forget to check your place on that list, Wash," C.T. sings almost mockingly and Wash follows her out of the room._

_"Hey," North walked up behind Indiana, "Let's go."_

_"Don't touch me," Indiana turns once she hears that voice and notices the way Tex's arm sparks while she loosely held it, the black-armored female being surrounded by three medics as she limped away. Something went cold in Indiana's armor, or maybe it was her heart, she couldn't tell. She didn't know what set this... off feeling in her, but it wasn't just because her friend was now in the infirmary. Reluctantly, she lets North guide her out of the training room, all the while Carolina just stood there watching Texas limp away._

_"Interesting."_

~~~~~~~~~

"Oh, man," Church grumbled, now that the shooting was over and Tex was in front of him, "Instead of a big  _white_  blur now everything's just a big  _black_  blur.

"Man," Tucker groans, "My head should only hurt this much if I had a lot more fun the night before. Ghost?"

" _No_."

"WHAT!"

"Ow, Caboose, stop yelling. Someone give me an Aspirin," Tucker moans.

"You guys are babies," Tex states.

"Babies?" Church repeats, "You chucked a grenade at us you stupid bitch, what do you expect?"

" _Great_  introduction, Church," Ghost sasses, "What a way to reel her in."

"Hey, there's a big difference between a flashbang and a grenade," Tex defends.

Tucker groans, "It doesn't seem like it."

"Well, if I threw a  _grenade_  at you, I wouldn't have to have this stupid conversation right now, I would just be stepping over some disgusting puddles."

"This is your girlfriend I take it?"

"Oh, yeah, Tucker, Tex, Tex Tucker, eh deryago," Church introduces.

"Sup."

"Hello," Tex growls.

Church turns to the only other female, "And this Ghost, my si-- uh, second-in-command."

Ghost appeared just as stunned as the rest of Blue team, "What?"

"Dude, what the fuck?" Tucker objects, "Since when?"

"Well, Tucker. Looks like I outrank you now."

"Are people meeting other people? I want to meet people!" Caboose cuts in.

"No, you don't. And stop yelling," Tucker demands.

"It's nice to meet you Mister Yelling!"

"Now-- why would you attack us, weren't you coming all the way out here to help us?" Church questioned Tex.

"Hey, I needed to evaluate the situation. I heard someone was dead, I show up here and three idiots are standing around arguing. I'm not walkin' into that blind."

"So you made us blind," Tucker grumbles.

" **Oh, boohoo**. It's not lethal."

" _So what_ , that's what, that's supposed to make us feel better? A kick in the balls would be non-lethal, too," Church rants.

"That depends on who does the kicking," Tex comments amusingly.

"Is that a threat?" Tucker asks.

"Heh, how 'bout we just call it an experiment. See what happens."

"How 'bout we agree to disagree."

"Good idea."

"Huh," Ghost smirks, "I like her."

"So. Who's dead."

"Oh, nobody," Tucker informs, "We just made a mistake. We thought--"

Church is quick to talk over him, "We thought we should bury our dead teammate and then take his name off the roster so that no one could prove he was never here."

"We did?"

" **Yes**. Because that's what she is here to investigate, Tucker. And if that guy didn't exist, why would she stick around?"

"Oh, right. Yeah. I thought she meant some other non-existent guy, who didn't die. Not that one guy who did die."

"Whoa whoa whoa, wai- why did you remove him from the roster?" Tex asked.

"Uhh, I don't know," Church tries fibbing, "Seemed appropriate at the time. You know it's like a respect thing."

"What was his name?"

"Anderson--"

"Smith," Tucker and Church exchange looks of betrayal.

"Well, was it Anderson or Smith?" Tex asks, growing impatient.

"Uh, Andersmith. Private Andersmith," Church informs.

"Ander _smith?_ "

"Oh, Mister Andersmith," Caboose sobbed, "I'll always miss you, you were too young to die."

"Yeah, he was like ten seconds old."

" _Very_  memorable," Ghost and Tucker look at each other, sharing grins underneath their helmet.

" **Shut up, you two,** " Church growled.

Tex breaks off from the team as soon as they told her everything about... Andersmith, then she radioed in an old friend, "Command, do you read me. This is Freelancer Tex reporting in."

_"Roger that senorita, we read you loud and clearita, how you doin'?"_

Cut to the Blues watching her from afar, like lovers who are also stalkers. Church devises a plan, "Okay, I just need to make sure she sticks around for a little while, you know so I can talk to her a little bit more. And investigating this dead guy is gonna be a good distraction for her."

"It doesn't bother you that you made up a guy outta nowhere, and then killed that guy, just to have a chance to talk to your girlfriend?" Tucker asks.

"No no no, it's like a ne- tingbu- whatever you call it, it's even. You know he didn't exist before, and he doesn't exist now. No harm no foul. Right?"

"Dude, you've seriously gotta look into this stalker thing."

"I miss him," Caboose states in such a serious tone it sounds too good to be true.

"You miss who?"

"Andersmith. He's a reminder of how close we all are just to not being here one day."

Tucker groans, "He wasn't here any days idiot, he doesn't exist!"

"How could you say that, don't you believe in the afterlife?"

"What?" Church rolls his helmet, "Afterlife implies life, at some point. He didn't have one."

"Because he was so young. He had hopes and dreams," Caboose started sobbing again.

" _He **was**  a dream,_" Church emphasizes.

"Yes, he was. To all of us who knew him."

"Okay, I'm actually less worried about you now, and I'm more worried about Caboose," Tucker tells Church, who turns back to the third male in their team.

"Caboose, he didn't exist. You never knew anyone named Andersmith. None of us did."

"Denial is an important stage in grieving."

"Yeah, apparently denial is an important part of reality, too."

"Yeah, take it from the guy who calls  _that_  chick his girlfriend," Tucker says sarcastically while motioning over to Tex.

"Don't worry, Caboose," Ghost pats his arm, "We'll perform a funeral pyre for Andersmith later."

"We will?" Tucker gapes at Ghost, astounded with the possibility that she might also be insane.

She shrugs, "Well, it's better to have Caboose believe he was real than not believe it, right? Otherwise, he wouldn't know how to lie, then Tex will find out and leave. We don't want that, right?"

"Well, yeah, but... well, now Caboose overheard that so how can he possibly believe it now?"

"Caboose," Ghost turns to him, "What did I just say? Explain to Tucker."

"Agent Texas will be attending Andersmith's funeral!"

"See?" 

Tex starts descending the hill and Church panics, "Oh shit, she's done with her call. Quick uhh, talk about something else. Uhm--"

"Like what?" Tucker rushes.

"Anything anything, uh, uh okay- you know what, I think you're right Tucker, cows  _can't_  talk. But maybe they can't talk 'cause just no one ever taught 'em how to do that. Right?" He rambles as Tex walked up to them.

"That might've been the worst ad-lib ever."

"My brain is trying to comprehend the stupid," Ghost sighs dramatically.

Caboose appeared to be buying it, "You just blew my mind with the cow thing."

"That ain't hard, dude," Tucker informs.

"Alright, here's the deal," Tex announces, "I'm gonna stick around until we get this dead guy thing solved."

Church side glances at Tucker, and even with his helmet on, Tucker could picture a smug look on his face, " _Oh, really._  Well, that's great! Isn't that perfect Tucker?"

"Don't gloat."

"Yes, Miss Scary, I have a question," leave it to Caboose to call a Special Agent that, "Um, how are we going to fix the dead guy being dead?"

"Oh, we're not. We're gonna even the teams. Come on, let's go up the hill and kill one of the Reds. Then I can get out of this mud puddle."

"Oh," Church deflates.

"Hey, I'll even let you pick which one. Come on, let's go."

"Well, this sounds like... fun?" Church questioned.

"Let's pack a picnic."

"...GREAT idea, Caboose."

"We could always just eat the Red we kill. Hey Church, pick the fat guy," Tucker jokes.

"That way I can raid his secret stash," Ghost and Tucker high five.


	9. Planning the Heist

**_"Okay, well, I just ran everything again, all calculations are up to date, taking into account standard delays for communication and response time. Our window looks good."_ **

_The Director, as stoic as ever, listens intently to the familiar voice, looking out over the control room of the Mother of Invention with his hands behind his back, "I agree."_

**_"Well, you should-- I'm sure you'd make the same calculations I did, just, you know, more slowly."_ **

_"Arrogance is a rather unbecoming trait, Alpha."_

_**"Are, you seriously giving me a lecture on arrogance right now?" **Alpha's voice scoffs before turning to be alert at the figure walking up behind the Director, **"Heads up you got a visitor."**_

_"Director?" Carolina calls._

_"Log off," the Director muttered under his breath._

**_"Yeah yeah, way ahead of you, bud."_ **

_"Yes, Agent Carolina," the Director turns to Carolina once Alpha disappears._

_"The team is ready, Sir."_

_"Excellent. Let us begin," he walks past her, not noticing the way she looked as she eyes something suspiciously before following him towards a hologram-displaying table in the middle of the room, where the other Freelancers are waiting for them. Along with the Counsellor, the soldiers surrounding the table consists of Washington, Connecticut, North, Indiana, Florida, Wyoming, Maine, and Four-Seven-Niner._

_"Agents," the Freelancers straighten when the Director addresses them, "Your mission today is by far the most important you have undertaken to date. As our number one, Carolina will be leading from the field."_

_As Carolina talks, the holo-emitter shows things in support of what she's saying, "Okay, here's what we have. As you may have heard, there is suspected Insurrection activity in this area. Our intel says that members of the UNSC loyal to the Insurrection have acquired a high-level asset, and are holding it in this secure location. It's a hundred and ten-story building in the middle of an urban environment."_

_"What does security look like?" Agent Wyoming, the heavy-accented one wearing the white armor, asks._

_"They have enough troops to fill a hundred and ten-story building."_

_"So... that's a lot of security."_

_"There would have been less security if SOMEONE had used stealth in her last mission and didn't warn the Insurrection that we were coming," Indiana mutters, earning a hip check by Agent North standing beside her. She looks up to see the Director glaring at her and she shrugs, "Just stating the obvious... Sir."_

_"We're up to it," Carolina explains, "Our job is to infiltrate the building, work our way up to the floor where the Sarcophagus is being held, and secure it."_

_"The **Sarcophagus,** " North repeats._

_"That is what we are calling the primary objective," the Director answers._

_"But since this is a high-level asset we need to access a key code to open the Sarcophagus," Carolina informs._

_Wash huffs, "I'm guessing they don't keep that just taped to the side."_

_"It's held by an official of the program who will be moving in a vehicle along the freeway between inspections. That's when we'll hit the facility. We need to acquire both targets within minutes of each other. If we fail that, the remaining target will enter lockdown and we miss our window."_

_"We will **not**  have another chance at this," the Director states with a dire look on his face._

_"So that means two teams," Wash guesses._

_"Two teams," Carolina confirms, "Team A will consist of me, Wash, Indiana, and Maine. We will work infiltration on the package's storage facility. York is still in the infirmary so Wash, you will have to pull lockpicking duty."_

_"Uhm... okay. Guess I'll reread my field manual in the transport."_

_The door slides open and everyone turns, stunned to see York walk in, fully armored and ready to go, "Hey, don't be so quick to give away my job."_

_"York?" Wash gasps while Carolina walks up to him._

_"I thought you were in the hospital?"_

_"According to their records, I am."_

_"How's your eye?"_

_"It's okay," York shrugs, "Docs are lettin' me out tomorrow."_

_"Tomorrow, huh?" Wash eyes him suspiciously._

_"Look, I couldn't let you guys have all the fun without me. Besides, you need someone to get you in," York walks over to the table, inspecting the plan for himself._

_Washington walks over to Carolina, "Listen I'm happy to see him too, but this mission, I don't know..."_

_"Hey, if York says he's good, then he's good," Carolina nearly growls at the rookie._

_"It's your call boss," Wash mumbles as Carolina walks up next to York._

_"You're good, right?" She whispers to him._

_"Look I said I was okay. Good might be overselling it a little," York mutters back._

_"It's settled then," the Director announces, "York will join Team A and get them in the facility."_

_"Thank you, Sir."_

_"Transport will be two lightly equipped Pelican dropships," Carolina informs._

_"We're rigged for fast running only people," Four-Seven-Niner, who had being lurking in the background, informs with a warning tone, "No heavy armaments."_

_"Team B will be North, Wyoming, and C.T.," Carolina continues, "You will act as recon for Team A and once we enter the building, you will disengage to attack the target on the freeway. North will lead Team B."_

_North nods, "Got it."_

_"What about Agent South?" C.T. asks._

_"Agent South will not be accompanying you on this mission," the Director informs with a flat tone._

_"Hmm, I guess the world's a tough place when you move down a rank. And where's our new recruit, will she be joining us?"_

_"That's enough questions, Connecticut," the Director snaps._

_"Notice he didn't say no," she sings quietly to Wash._

_"Team B should be simple," Carolina instructs, "Stop the vehicle and grab the case. Team A, you have more of a challenge. Mainly, the Sarcophagus is an unknown."_

_"How unknown are we talking?" Wash asks._

_"Unknown in that we don't know its size or its weight or its dimensions. We just know it will have these markings somewhere on the exterior," Carolina says while bringing up a picture of said markings._

_"I saw those same markings on the oil platform," North reports._

_"Correct," the Director nods, "That facility created the primary objective."_

_"Do we know what's inside it?" Wash asked._

_"Yes, we know."_

_"How do we know what's in it, but not know how big it is?" C.T. immediately stops questioning it when she saw the look on the Director's face, "...Sorry, Sir."_

_"If it's anything like the unexpected surprise from my last mission, and given that its name is the **Sarcophagus** , it might be big," Indiana notes while looking over at Carolina, who nods._

_"We have a job to do people. Let's do it right and come home safe."_

_"That is all. You are dismissed," the Director cuts off._

_Everyone, except Indiana, stands up straight in salute, "Yes, Sir."_

~~~~~~~~~

_As the two dropships draw closer to the city, North radios in the team from the other pelican, "Team A, you look clear. The window is open. Start your clocks. On my mark... mark."_

_**"Sync,"**  Carolina's voice responds,  **"Roger that. Team A is moving."**_

_"Copy that, Carolina. Good luck, Team A."_

**_"Thanks. We won't need it."_ **

_North turns back to his own team as the cargo bay door opens behind to reveal the city below them, "Alright, Bravo let's move out. We have three minutes until the first alert, let's have our target in hand by two."_

_Team A is already on the ground by that time and uses very little effort to take out the very few soldiers on the ground level floor as they enter the building. They come across a very sophisticated padlock as Carolina turns to the rest of her team, "We're in. Indiana, alert Team B they are good to go."_

_"Copy," Indiana turns her back to Carolina while radioing in the leader of Team B, "Hey, North, you there?"_

_"York, get up here," Carolina waves the tanned armored soldier over, "How long to crack that lock?"_

_York kneels in front of the padlock, "Should take about sixty seconds. You can give me fifteen. Wow, is that holographic? It's high end."_

_**"I'm here, Indiana,"**  North's voice patches through comms,  **"What's the scoop?"**_

_"Team A is in the building. Team B is clear to disengage."_

**_"Roger that. Thanks, Indi. And watch your six."_ **

_"Sure thing," Indi joked, "I have Wash by my side. I feel safer already."_

_"Hey!"_

_"Can you get through it?" Carolina asks as York continues to mess with the lock._

_"Of course I can," York responds, "You didn't bring me along for my good looks did ya? Whoever designed this is a genius."_

_As the lock goes down, the alarms to the building go up and the team goes to high alert._

_"You were saying?" Carolina rolls her helmet._

_"Okay, I take it back, whoever designed this is an asshole. Picked," the big doors open in front of them, "Everybody in."_

_"Thanks, York, but do something about that alarm system. We don't need any more surprises."_

_"Does saying sorry count as something?"_

_Carolina only has to glance at him as an answer, and York just mutters, "Hmm, guess not."_

_"We'll secure the package. Set some trackers and then find us a way out of this."_

_"Moving," York confirms as the rest run into the room, Indiana patting York on the shoulder before they split._


	10. Son of a Bitch

Blood Gulch Canyon looks bigger from where the Blue Team stood, looking out over the Red Team's base as Tex looks over at Church, "Okay, pick one."

"Anyone?"

"Well, preferably one on  _that_  side of the canyon."

Ghost huffs sarcastically, "Touché."

Tex looks over at Tucker as continues in a sly voice, "But uh, I'm not all that choosy."

"Why are you lookin' at me when you say that?"

"No reason. Just pick one and take the shot. I'll cover you if they attack."

"You mean, shoot them with this?" Church holds up the sniper rifle in his hands.

"What else?"

"Uh-huh-uhuh," Tucker chuckles amusingly, "He's really not that great with that thing."

"Give me a break. You're a soldier."

"Yeah, well, that's debatable," Church mutters.

"Hit the rock over there."

"Okay..."

Church fires twice at the small rock and misses twice, meanwhile Tex just groans in disgust, making it sound like she wasn't getting paid enough for this bullshit.

"Yeah, see uh, I think the sun reflected off the rockface there and--"

"Just give me the damn rifle."

"Yeah okay, thanks."

"Dude, this has to be embarrassing for you," Tucker tells Church.

Church looks like a degraded child being talked down to by his mother, "I don't really wanna talk about it."

Ghost huffs, "Talk about damaged pride..."

"Alright come on," Tex continues, "It's not that hard. Which one should we take out? The pink one, the orange one--"

"Pretty sure he's yellow," Caboose adds.

"Pretty sure he's gold," Ghost shrugs, "We'll place bets later."

"Is it me or, does he seem a little slow?" Tex asks.

Tucker agrees, "Yeah, Caboose was held back a grade, or two."

"Maybe three," Ghost adds.

"I meant the orange one," Tex growls.

"Uh hoho... yeah, he's just fat," Tucker tells her.

"What about the red one? I mean he's the leader, he seems tough. Or maybe the maroon one, he looks like he's up to something."

"Uh yeah I don't know I can't really decide which one, maybe we should put it to a vote," Church offers, trying to slow things down so that tex doesn't leave from right under his nose.

"You know what screw it, the maroon one is closest. We'll just shoot him."

Tex targets Simmon's head and fires immediately, causing him to scream 'OW' in an accent that sounded way too much like Lopez as he falls to the ground.

Church shivers, "Uhuhuhuhh... nice shot."

"Thanks."

Meanwhile, at Red Base, Donut runs to Simmons while Lopez dressed as Simmons is in pieces.

" _Mierda_."

"Oh my God! Simmons! How did this happen!"

Back to the Blues looking from over the cliffside, while Tucker just states the obvious, "Wow. That was pretty fuckin' brutal."

"Andersmith," Caboose's stern tone nearly gives Ghost a heart attack, "I kept my promise. You have been avenged."

From this observation, Tex aims the sniper rifle at red Base again, "You know what, let me shoot another one. I think you guys could use the advantage."

Church stutters, "Uhm, are you- are you sure?"

"There was so much we had left to talk about!" Donut screams into the air back at Red Base, "Like our feelings and hopes! And  _dreams!_  And why most of your insides are wires! How could you just explode like this? We could have talked- you could have told me what was wrong. Nooooohohohohooooo."

"Uh, maybe I'll let that one live. Might demoralize the rest of 'em," Tex mutters.

"Good idea," Tucker agrees.

Ghost chuckles, "Yeah, we wouldn't want to accidentally kill Tucker's boyfriend."

"Go fuck yourself."

"That would be a lot more enjoyable than what you could perform."

Tex slings the rifle over her shoulder, "Come on, let's pack it in."

"Does anyone else feel really, really dirty about this?" Tucker asks while Donut's cries almost drown it out, "And not the good kind of really really dirty?"

"Tucker, c-come on man, help me. I need to find a way to have her stick around a bit longer," Church begs as the two of them split from the rest of the team and hang out right outside their base. 

"Oh yeah sure, no problem. Maybe you and your girlfriend can find time to go on a killing spree. Do some real bonding."

" **Tucker.** "

"Oh, that's right, not your girlfriend. Just the girl that you're stalking, through multiple planes of existence," Church grunts and Tucker sarcastically corrects himself, "Romantically."

"Please, I just need a little more  _time_."

"Why, who cares?"

" _I_  do, I'm supposed to do this."

"Fine, where is she now?"

"She's talking with Caboose and Ghost."

"Well, that should keep her busy for at least a few minutes. Half an hour if she starts asking Caboose math problems."

"Hey," Tex seemingly pops out of thin air, Ghost, and Caboose right behind her, "I'm gonna stick around a while longer."

"You are?" Church clears his throat of excitement, "I mean... you are?"

"Yeah. Caboose here said you guys need some help with the tank, so I figured ah, I could help with that too. What can I say, I like the kid."

"Technically, I suggested it," Ghost folded her arms while leaning against the side of the base.

Caboose pitches in, "Plus I paid her a hundred dollars."

"Yeah, that too."

Tucker is stunned, "Money? Why didn't  _I_  think of that?"

"Because you don't  _have_  any money?" Church suggests.

"Good point. Hey Caboose, give me some money!"

"Oka- wait. Is this a trick. I'll pay you a hundred dollars to show me how it works."

Ghost just stands there, confused, looking between Caboose and the others, "...So no one is wondering how the hell Caboose has money?"

After a while, Church decides to join Tex with helping with the tank, "Hey uh, hey you got a second?"

"Sure!" Caboose pops out from behind the tank and stands beside Tex, "What do you want to talk about?"

"No, not you, Caboose, I want to talk to Tex," Church responds as the ground shakes again.

"Oh. Go ahead," he says.

"I wanna talk to her  _alone_."

"You can't talk to someone alone, there have to be two people. Those are the rules, I don't make them."

" _By myself._ "

"Well, I- I suppose she could stand pretty far away, and then you can yell. That might, that might work."

"Caboose, I would like for you to leave."

"Oh I, I get it, I'm so- I'm so embarrassed, I'll just go over there for a little while."

"Thank you."

"Come on, Tex."

"No no no no no, Tex, Te- please, can you help me out here?"

Tex chuckles, "Hoho, no no no. I'm sure this conversation is a lot more entertaining than whatever  _you_  wanna say to me."

~~~~~~~~~

After a while, however, Tex is having any luck getting the jeep to start, even without Caboose's help, "Goddammit. Huhhh..."

"Still won't start, huh?" Church asks as he approaches her.

"No, but it's gettin' there."

"Did you uh, try checking the starter?"

"What a brilliant idea. Next, you're gonna ask me if I tried the keys."

"You have keys?"

" **No.** "

"How do you know so much about vehicles?"

"You know, during the training," Tex's voice seems to brighten about the subject, a sparkle in her helmet, "We had to learn to care for our equipment. Plus I've always liked cars."

"Uh, training huh, was that before..."

"Before what? Before I was killed? Before you brought me back as whatever I am now?" Tex asks sarcastically, the brightness in her voice suddenly drops flat.

"Oh. You know about that?"

"Well, of course, I do," she spoke almost sadly, like she knew something that he didn't, "I know what you know. You made me."

"Well-- no not  _me_."

"Ee-hhh, whatever.  _Him."_

"Hey, why did he do it? I, don't even remember when you first came around, you were just, kinda there one day. It was like a training session or something like that."

"Hehh, yeah. Wyoming and Maine... big dummies."

"But why did he bring you back?"

"You know what Church, I don't know," Tex raises her voice, "You tell me. You didn't exactly ask me what  _I_  wanted. I just kind of came along for the ride. I didn't get a vote."

"But you were there when Alpha was there. Nobody else was."

"I don't know. What can I say, I guess we were inseparable."

The tank suddenly starts and Tex uses as a way out of the conversation, "There you go, tank's fixed! See what happens when you treat something right?"

She starts walking away and Church lowers his head, "Yeah. Yeah, as a matter of fact, I think I do."

He suddenly freezes and quickly stops Tex from leaving, "So wait, did you tell Ghost anything?"

"Not yet, why?"

"DON'T. Tell her. Anything."

Tex spins back around, and she sounded almost concerned as she fits the pieces to the puzzle together, "Wait, does she not remember?"

"Not yet... but, part of me doesn't want her to find out. It might hurt her more than I already have."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooo! We're finally getting to the good bits! It was kind of a slow beginning for me when I first wrote this because all I wanted was to get to the juicy parts, now we're here! When it was still in my drafts, I left the most boring parts to leave last when it came to writing, so I hope it'll be all worth it in the end ;) that is, IF there's an end!


	11. Hate to Say Goodbye

Whatever Church was expecting for the end of the world to be like, he wasn't expecting for Grif to be yelling at the top of his lungs all morning as he talks down to Blue team, pissing tex off by the minute as the tremors become more constant and shake the ground more violently, "Hey you! Yeah, you! You dumb cunts! You suck! Hey up there, what're you talking about? Huh, Blue? Are you talking about how bad you suck? Because that's what I'm doin'! I'm talking about it right here, only louder!  _Way_  louder! Because I'm yelling  **Bluueee Teeeaam suuuucks!**  Hey Blue Team, why're you so sad? Is it because you suck so bad? I think it might be!"

Tex growls and screams spontaneously, pissed off that someone other than her is insulting her team, "That's it, I'm taking those  _fuckers_  out! Caboose, get my toolkit."

"Woohoo! Success," Grif finally disappears.

At Blue Base sometime later, everyone is gathered around Tex's new invention, that just happens to look like the classical, rounded shape of a bomb from old cartoons.

"What the hell is that?" Church asks.

"That... is my bomb. You guys had an unused robot kit, so I used the parts from it to make this bad boy."

"Oh, robot kit, right. We don't need that now because I never died. That makes sense."

"Right," Caboose agrees to something he doesn't understand, as per usual, "That was Andersmith's job."

**"Stop it."**

"This thing doesn't look like a bomb," Tucker states, "It looks like a basketball."

Andy the Bomb suddenly attacks, blowing up in Tucker's face, but not literally, "Oh yeah? Well, you don't look much like a soldier, dickhead."

"Looks like a basketball, sounds like a fucking asshole. Great."

"You insulted him first," Ghost reminds him.

"I had to include the voice synthesizer because it had the power unit," Tex informs them, "So now it can... talk."

"In other words, you want me to blow stuff up, you're gonna have to  _blow_  me first," Andy teases.

"Well, he's pleasant," Tucker mutters.

"What do you expect? He's a bomb. You want him to be polite, or you want him to kill stuff?" Tex asks.

"I want him to shut up."

"Anybody care what I want?" Andy asks, "How 'bout Tucker's mother? Polishing me, twenty-four--"

"Fuck this, I'm out," Tucker growls while heading back inside the base.

"Out- just like I got outta your sister!"

"Hey, fuck you, bowling ball!" Tucker calls back.

Ghost smiles, "I like this bomb. This bomb is my friend."

"Okay, let's plant this bad boy," Tex says while kneeling down to Andy.

"Yeah, let's go!" The bomb agrees.

"Hey uh, don't forget to lift with your legs Tex," Church says almost shyly.

"Yeah, I know how to lift, jackass," Tex hissed, "I've been carrying this team the entire time I've been here."

Tucker suddenly pops out of the base again, "I know I said I was leaving, but that was actually a really good burn. Zing!"

After they planted the bomb at Red Base, Tucker and Caboose have packed all of their essentials and have stuffed it into the tank, ready for taking off... as if that will save them from the world splitting apart.

"Okay, we're all set!" Tucker tells Ghost, Church, and Tex.

"Okay, I'm driving." Caboose runs to the tank.

"What? Fuck no!"

"You don't even know how to drive a tank!" Ghost yells after them, running over and trying to stop them.

"Come on, Church, get in!" Tex yells while running towards the tank.

"I'm not coming."

"You're not?" Tucker questions.

"Nah, you guys go. Good luck. I don't know how much time we have left and I, think I'd rather spend it on someplace I like," the ground shakes again and this time, rocks start falling from the sky. It's definitely the end of the world now, "Oh, if you see Agent Washington, do me a favor, tell him I said memory is the key. He'll know what that means. Oh and also, tell him I said thanks. Good luck guys."

"Well, I'm goin'. You can sit around here until the world ends; but as long as I'm here, there's something I can do about it," Tex states.

"Tex, I wouldn't expect anything else."

Caboose sounds like he's about to cry, just as another tremor starts, "Church, I--"

Tucker interrupts as the earthquake picks up speed, " _Aw crap!_ "

"This tank needs to move,  _right now!_ " Tex screams.

Ghost goes to get into the tank, but Church stops her, grabbing her arm, "Ghost, I, uh- I'm sorry."

Ghost pauses, getting down from the step up to tilt her head at Church in confusion, "Huh? For what?"

"For doing all those things to you. You don't remember any of it, but someday it'll come to you, and I'm sorry in advance."

"Uh, okay? So, did you promote me to your second-in-command because I'm good or was it out of pity for... whatever you're sorry about?"

Church smiles under his helmet, and it shows as much when he chuckles with a proud sound in his voice, "Heh. I promoted you because you're a badass, Ghost. You always have been."

Ghost stands there, dead confused as Church kind of leads her back onto the tank. He helps her onto the step up and he backs up once she's inside. She's quiet, trying to remember something that she couldn't remember until now. Meanwhile, the others have gotten the jeep started as another earthquake follows.

"Punch it, Tucker!" Caboose hurries out.

"I am punching it!"

"Well, punch it harder. E- try kicking it!"

"Caboose, this is as punched as this thing gets. It's a tank, not a fucking Lamborghini."

The tank drives away and Ghost is helpless to do anything, Church becoming a dot in the distance as he stands on top of the base. She watches as Blood Gulch disappears behind them and she sits back in her seat, still silent as she tries to comprehend something. She didn't know why Church's words bugged her so much, but it frustrated her nonetheless. She rips off her helmet, suddenly unable to breathe and as she does so, it reveals her coffee black hair and green eyes. It is revealed that Ghost is actually  _Agent Indiana_. The only difference is that her hair is grown out and pinned up in a bun and the gray accents of her armor have been painted purple.

Back at the Blue Base, Church watches as the tank disappears in the distance, sighing to himself at how the whole place was suddenly quiet. There wasn't any Tucker flirting, or Ghost bickering, or even a Caboose to annoy Church. It was all so... quiet. Church hated himself for missing them.

"Good luck, guys," Church muttered to himself.

"So, think they'll make it?"

Church turns around and doesn't seem all that surprised that Tex has stayed behind with him regardless of what she said earlier, "Oh, I think they might have time to squeeze in one last adventure. Can't really ask for more than that, can you?"

"I suppose not."

"So you decided to stay?"

"Yeah."

"Finally gave in and believed me, huh?"

"Uh, not exactly. I just figured you haven't steered me wrong so far, h- why bet against a streak?"

"Well, come sit with me then. I got some great seats for the end of the world. I saved you one."

"Okay," Tex says with a soft tone in her voice, walking over to stand next to Church, "You sure you wanna do this?"

Another earthquake starts as Church responds, "Yeah. You know it took a couple versions of me to understand it but I think sometimes, sometimes you just gotta let go. And if you do, the things you let go sometimes come back on their own. They did today."

"Wow, guess the theory is proven right then. Nick o' time."

"Yeah, I guess it was."

"So uhh, any regrets?"

"Yeah, a few. I mean, probably should've learned how to shoot this damn sniper rifle."

"Hhh, you guys did have a lot of downtimes. Could have practiced I don't know, once or twice."

"Well, what can I tell you. I had other things on my mind I guess."

The sky starts to split apart, everyone in Blood Gulch suddenly looking up and waiting for the end... except for Grif, who decides to die while napping. It's how he lived. And Sarge actually respects that!

"I guess this is it," Tex states.

"Hey, Tex," Church gets nervous again, "There's something I need to tell you. I think it's important that I say this."

"Wait a second," Tex voice breaks while she tries to power through her emotions, "Look I can take the whole 'at peace with the world' thing, and I can even stomach all the 'accept your fate' stuff. But... just do me a favor, okay? Don't say goodbye. I hate goodbyes. I mean, we are space warriors, right? We should try to maintain some level of credibility."

Church contemplates on her words, remembering those words as the way she's always said them, dead or alive, "No no no, Tex, no. I think I just figured out what the Director couldn't. And Alpha either. It was you, Tex, all along. See I thought- I thought  _we_ , made  _you_. The Director, and the fragments... but that's not the case. You made us. When the Alpha was created, you just kinda came along for the ride. You gave the Director the idea that he could make something more. That he could split the Alpha up. Don't you get it?  _You_  were the memory. You were the key. You were so strong, you made a whole other person.  **God**  - he always wanted to find you. You know to get you right. To just see you one last time. And he wanted me to be able to do the same. To find you in here or... to find you in here or just, go down another iteration. Figure out this little Tex problem. Figure out how to do it right. But now I know. I know how to fix all o' this. How to end it once and for all. It was so simple all along. I just had to tell you three words. Three words I wasn't capable of telling you before."

Tex suddenly breaks the moment, "Oh, okay, wait a minute... are you gonna say "I love you"?"

"No Tex, no, I'm not gonna say I love you. I'm gonna say I forget you," There's another tremor, and Church suddenly turns back to Tex... only to see he is now alone on top of the base, Agent Texas-- Beta-- Allisons, gone from existence, "I forget you. I'm letting you go.

The base is definitely a lot quieter now that she's gone, and Church looks up into the sky, "Okay world, do your fucking worst! 'Cause I sure as hell just did mine."

All of a sudden, a voice from the void, full of echo and a childish tone, crashes through the world from the very rip in the sky,  **"It's opening! It's working!"**

Church spasms in shock, not expecting that, "What the fuck was that?"

And from the cut in the sky, and giant Caboose is looking down through the crack,  **"U- I see him! I see him, he's in there. He's okay!"**

Back to the Reds at Red Base, they also see the Caboose in the sky, and half of them think they're on acid.

"Is that Caboose?" Sarge questions.

Simmons is questioning everything he's ever learned about science, "Is Caboose... God? I mean I can  _kinda_  see it now that I think about it? Sure would explain the fuck outta the platypus."

Sarge growls, "Well, that's just great. Caboose is God. I guess that makes me the first person in the history of the Universe that doesn't wanna go to Heaven. Hhgh, great job Blue Team. You find a way to make  _everything_  suck."

Looking back up at the sky, a giant Sarge is shoving the giant Caboose out of the way of the crack in the sky to see for himself.  **"What? Let me see, moron. It's just a bunch o' circuits."**

Giant Caboose is jumping with joy,  **"Yeah, but they're glowing. He's alive!"**

Back down to the tiny Reds in Blood Gulch Canyon, they are now way more confused than before; almost scared.

"Um, Sarge? What're you doing up there?" Simmons asks.

"What? Is that me? And more importantly, why am I talking with a Blue? Attention enormous version of myself! I order you to attack!"

Back at the Blue Base, Church is suddenly panicking, "No.  **NO!**  The memory unit isn't dying! This isn't the end of the world - it's a fucking rescue mission.  **NO!** "

 **"Well, get him outta there!"**  Giant Sarge demands.

Church's body begins to glow and disappear from this world, and all he could do is scream with no other way of fighting back, "No, no stop! Stop it, leave me here!"

And now, we're finally back in the real world as Church suddenly appears transparent in front of the real Caboose and Sarge, the memory unit he is now free from lying dead on the floor as if nothing in there ever happened. Church hates it, every second of it, and he's near sobbing because of it.

"No, no, dammit! Why why, why did you do it?"

Caboose is too excited to even care at the moment, "Church, you're alive! See-- I knew it. See I told them! And she was right! We  _could_  get you out!"

"Alright then. We're square, Blue," Sarge informs Caboose, "We helped you get your shiny blue buddy out, so that makes us--"

"What're you doing here?" Church screams.

Caboose stutters excitedly, "U- saving you. Y-we found you in the place where they were keeping you and we traveled a really really long way to come to this place, and fought a bunch of people, and then fought a bunch of more people, and then we got you and took you and saved you the end."

"But why would you do that? Why!?"

"Well, clearly it wasn't to hear thank you," Sarge muttered. 

"Hey, we're taking fire out here!" Grif's voice yells from out the door of the compound Church takes note that they're currently in, and he even hears gunshots to back up the orange soldier's story.

" _Thank you?_  You fucked everything up! I was at peace - I head it figured out it was  _over_. Put me back."

"Put you back? Buddy, we just fought through an entire military base to reach you. And now you wanna go back?" Sarge snapped.

" **YES!** " 

"She said we need you," Caboose explained, "She was the one who knew how to get you out."

" _She?_  Who're you- who're you talking about, Ghost? Tex? The real Tex?"

"Tex? No, no not Tex or Ghost. The new lady."

" _New_  lady?"

The door where Grif's voice once was slid open all dramatically, and as Church and the others turn their heads, a familiar female's voice starts talking, "Hey there, Alpha. Been looking for you for a long time."

"Oh, no," Church whispered.

Carolina steps into the room all menacingly, "Now that I've found you, you're gonna help me do what I should have done years ago... You're gonna help me kill the Director."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of Season 9! Onto my favorite season of all time! If you've stuck around for this long, thank you SO much! It really does mean a lot to me since practically no one read this on Wattpad and it's something I've been working nonstop on for a long time. I've never been this dedicated to a story before but that's because there's so much to talk about regarding my character, Ghost. Or Indiana if you prefer, since now you just discovered they're the same person! I didn't want to make it super obvious in the beginning, but I think the summary and some hints here and there did the trick and ended in the same effect I wanted just fine :)


	12. Revenants

Church learns that they're all standing in the UNSC Archives but could care less about it as he's screaming at the female soldier in front of him, "Agent Carolina!? What are you doing here?!"

"I need your help," the former leader of the Freelancer states, "I'm tracking the Director of Project Freelancer, and you're my best bet for figuring out what hole he's hiding in."

"Hole, eh?" Sarge questions, "You know our buddy Donut was always talking about his holes."

"Sarge--"

"Constantly trying to get people to look at 'em and whatnot."

"Come on Sarge. He's dead now. He was shot. Remember?" Church responded.

"Oh. Right. Probably has a few more holes then, huh? Heh heh heh," he stops chuckling when he realizes everyone in the room wasn't laughing but just staring blankly at him, "...What, too soon?"

"What's the appropriate amount of time that can go by for that joke to be okay?" Church hissed.

"Ah, whatever you big blue baby."

"Shut up, Sarge. What are you doing  _alive,_ Carolina? You're supposed to be  **dead**. This is impossible," Church states.

Sarge apparently doesn't know how to shut up, "That's a funny thing to say. For a guy who's literally a ghost."

Caboose cuts in at that, "Um, yeah actually he's not a ghost; um he's a computer program. He gets holographically projected out of our armor when he wants to talk to us."

"Seismographic computer fograms? Heh heh. Caboose, you say the craziest things sometimes. What an imagination on you."

"Yeah, I don't know what that first word means but it sounds the same. I will allow it."

A small explosion rattles the room from down the hallway Carolina entered through and Wash in blue armor suddenly backs into the room, firing down said hallway, "Hey, how we doin' in here?"

"Wash?" Church questions.

"You got Epsilon out?" Wash turns towards them, "Good, we can't hold 'em off much longer. They're not too happy about us breaking in."

"Let me see what I can do to help that," Carolina offers smugly before charging out of the room and down the hallway.

Washington appeared amused, "Huh, same old Carolina. I guess coming back from the dead doesn't change anybody."

"Washington," Church growls to get his attention, "Why are you wearing blue armor? Why are you wearing,  _my_  armor?"

"Oh, y-um..."

Caboose suddenly realized how awkward this might be, "Oh, yeah, yeahhh..."

"They sort of used me to... replace you? On Blue Team."

" _Replace_  me?"

"I wouldn't really use the word 'replace.' But there's no word for 'take over for you and make everything better almost immediately,' so we just say replace," Caboose answers.

"When did  _this_  happen?" Church demands.

"Oh, do you remember when you went into the memory unit? And then everyone was sad?"

"Yeah?"

"It was right after that."

" _Right after I left?_ " Church explodes.

"Well, it wasn't right after, you know, but you know it was like, five or, ten seconds."

"You've gotta be kidding me."

"Life is short, Epsilon. We had to move on."

Church didn't know why, but when  _Caboose_  of all people calls him Epsilon, it was like an arrow straight to the heart, "I think I just got dumped by Caboose. This is unfucking believable."

"Yeah it's, it's not me. It's you."

"Epsilon," Wash tries explaining, "They just needed to even the teams. I-it's really not--"

"Hey, would you guys stop calling me Epsilon? I'm Church now."

Caboose, again, finds this awkward, "Oh, uh, we're sort of calling the new guy Church. You know, sometimes."

Church grows what, only muttering the one single word as if he was building up to explode again, "...What?"

"Caboose just finds it easier. The armor color confuses him. As do a lot of things," Wash tries to reason with Church.

"Let me get this straight, Agent Washington. You took my name, too?"

"It's only in certain circumstances."

"Like when we talk to him," Caboose lists off, "Or need to fill out paperwork. Or sing happy birthday to him."

" **You've gotta be fucking kidding me!** " Church screams.

"Well. This is awkward," Sarge finally cuts in as the only Red in the room, "You know, I think the quickest solution would be a good old fashioned thinning of the ranks with my trusty shotgun. Any takers?"

"Uh- we're fine," Wash tells him.

"Well, it was worth a shot. You win this round, Blue.  _But I'll be back._  Actually, this guy's been kickin' our ass. I'm kinda glad to have ya back. Sure will be nice to have an idiot in charge of Blue Team again."

"Thanks," Church's tone was flat, "It's great to be needed."

Another explosion comes from down the hallway, and Carolina re-emerges, "Everyone front and center, now!"

Wash follows Carolina outside, where they hide behind the cement dividers guarding the doorway to the Archives while the UNSC rapidly fires towards them, an ATV rolled over and caught on fire in the middle of all of it.

"Wash, take that right side," Carolina orders while Wash takes out one of the men working a Gatling gun.

"Where's everyone else!?" He yells over the gunfire.

"Working on an extraction plan," Carolina informs him, "They should be here right about--"

And right on cue, the Warthog flies through the air playing its usual polka music while flying through the air. 

"Woohoo!" Inside the vehicle is Grif at the wheel and Ghost in the passenger seat, fighting motion sickness and clinging onto her seat.

"GRIF! LOOK OUT!"

Grif sticks the vehicle's landing and crushes two guards against some cement, then rolls down the hill and parks right in front of Carolina and Wash.

"-now," Carolina finishes her sentence while Sarge and Caboose finally emerge from inside.

Grif turns off the radio and turns to the others, " **Sup.** "

"Damn you, Private Grif!" Sarge yells, "You took out those two soldiers before I could administer my lethal brand of Red justice! Now, where's Simmons?"

"I don't know," Grif says just even stranger music starts playing in the distance, "He found another Warthog and he was right behind me."

Right on cue, the second warthog rolls up slowly, parking right next to Grif and Ghost. Inside this vehicle was Simmons and Tucker, their Warthog playing "Los Dos Laredos/Acordeones" by Jaime y Los Chamacos.

"Present," Simmons announces.

" _Wow._  Nice entrance dude. Very thrilling," Grif mutters sarcastically.

"Hey, I don't need all that flash. Some of us have respect for the fundamentals."

"Hey, what did I tell you before? You know you're not allowed to use words that have the term 'fun' in them."

"I'm riding with you next time," Tucker turns to Grif, "He actually stopped at the train tracks."

"That's the law!" Simmons sputters.

"We were under fire!"

"And we're not on Earth!" Ghost pitches in from Grif's passenger side.

"It's still the law," Simmons muttered under his breath.

"Simmons, only you could manage to make a high speed chase boring," Sarge gruffed.

"Thank you, Sir," the kissass spoke.

"What is that song?" Grif asks after Simmons finally turns off the radio.

"Uh, it's a Bolivian orchestral mash-up? Obviously, you haven't heard of them yet?"

"Thank God for that," Grif mutters as Ghost gets out of his car and runs around to find Church run out of the Archives building.

"Church! You okay?"

"Yeah, no thanks to this stupid rescue mission. I still don't understand, why did you guys rescue me?"

"Don't blame us," Sarga defends, "Blame Mrs. Fuzzy Britches."

"Yeah, uh, actually it's  _Ms_. Fuzzy Britches. She gets really mad when you say it wrong," Caboose corrects.

Sarge continues to explain to Church, "She wanted to get you outta that memory whatsit. Something about you being the geneticafied and mental imprintchamacallit of that Professor What's His Puss."

"Could someone translate that," Church looked around, "I don't speak Huckleberry."

"Yeah, the mean lady wants to find the Director and since you have all his memories you might know where he went," Caboose explains and everyone stands still for a moment in shock.

Church was the first to speak, "Wow, that actually seemed,  _too_  correct, for you Caboose. There must have been some part of that that you didn't underst--"

"And when we find him we're going to throw him a very big surprise party."

"Ah, there we go."

"Sure, as long as 'surprise party' means  _shooting him in the face_  and then walking away in slow motion, heh heh," Sarga chuckles while looking through the sight on his rifle.

"Surprise!" Caboose cheers.

"Well, ah- you know I hate to break it to you but I don't know how much help I'm gonna be, I mean- I may have the Director's memories, but that doesn't mean I ...remember them," Church explains slowly.

"Yeah, I have the same problem, I barely remember any of my own memories. And none of anyone else's."

"Well, you'd better  _start_  rememberin', Blue. I had to watch Grif nearly die three times today. It's like fate was laughin' at me.  _Why don't you just take him already!?_ "

"I gotta say," Church began, "I'm pretty surprised to see you taking orders from a  _Blue,_  Sarge."

"Huh. Under duress."

"Wh-hat, you didn't wanna come?" Church chuckles, clearly amused.

"Let's just say you seem to know a lot of women with quick tempers. You got a fetish or somethin'?"

"I guess you could- say, yeah apparently."

The three of them stand in silence before Sarge speaks up, "...Wanna talk about it?"

"...No."

Caboose turns his head, "...Wanna talk about it with y--"

" _No._ "

"Okay, everyone load up," Carolina commands, "Nav links are in your HUDs, alternate navs uploaded to your secondary objectives. Sync?"

Everyone stops and just stands there, looking around at each other without saying a word.

Carolina is surprised, to say the least, almost growling out the command again, " **Sync?** "

Washington kind of shakes himself before turning to the others, "Oh, uh right. Everyone, just say 'sync' whenever she says that."

"Oh. Sync?" Tucker questions the way he says it.

"Refrigerator," Caboose says when it comes to his turn.

"You guys not used to getting orders?" Carolina questions, almost baffled.

"Oh, we're used to getting 'em all right," Grif explains, "We just aren't used to doing much with 'em."

"We're retreating," the Freelancer grumbles.

"Oh, okay yeah," it dawns on Simmons first, "That's usually Step One in most of our plans. Sync."

"Easy Bake Oven."

"Let's just go," Carolina growls as they all pile into the jeeps, both she and Ghost exchanging glares.


	13. Heavy Metal

_A lot has happened since we last saw our Freelancers, but I have been way too lazy and far too rushed to publish this series in order to write it all. I'm a bit like Grif, with a dash of Simmons, and maybe a sprinkle of Caboose. That's obviously a hybrid of a disaster waiting to blow up in my face someday._

_Yeah, anyway, probably should cut out this fourth wall bit, but oh well. It's already broken. During the Freelancers last mission, many things have changed. Maine was shot in the neck and therefore his voice had been permanently damaged to only grunts and growls. The team was able to get the Sarcophagus and the briefcase but not before damaging Carolina's pride in being the number one soldier and creating tension between her and Agent Texas. The scoreboard had changed, with Tex now on top and Carolina now on the number two slot. South has been cut off the scoreboard altogether and now North had been pushed down to the number seven slot, in front of him was Maine, York, and Indiana. York and North start to doubt if they were even the good guys, to begin with, and now York sports with having a fragmented A.I. called Delta._

_Now, the Mother of Invention is pursuing a new target, the UNSC Scrap Metal Recycling Station, but they have been spotted and three enemy fighters spring into action and head straight for the ship with a purpose._

_The Counsellor of Project Freelancer, Aiden Price, approaches the Director himself, a worried tone in his voice, "Sir, enemy fighters approaching."_

_The Director stands straight, observing the war table in front of him with his hands behind his back, as I've been saying every time I describe him because I like pissing people off, "Fire at will, Counsellor. Let's send them back to the scrapyard."_

_They take out one enemy fighter right away when they fire for the first time, taking tiny bits of damage from the other fighters while they swarm the Mother of Invention. They manage to take out one more tiny ship before firing at the station itself, then the Mother of Invention shakes and the Counsellor nearly topples over before catching his balance._

_"It appears we are now taking fire."  
_

_"Release the dropships. Get the team in position," the Director orders as he walks away, being followed by the Counsellor._

_Four of the Pelican dropships deploy, and inside one of them is none other than our beloved pilot, Four-Seven-Niner._

_"Well, **that**  went to Hell quicker than we thought. Out of the frying pan and into the shit."  
_

_"We're going to need a new insertion point," Carolina points out from her seat above Four-Seven-Niner, "York was supposed to open the Leader's hangar for us."_

_York comes through on the radio, apparently having failed his stealth mission, **"It wasn't my fault!"**_

_"We'll have to settle for the main hangar," Four-Seven-Niner suggests._

_"Which one is that?" Carolina asks._

_"The one with the shooting things comin' out at us."_

_A turret fires at them from the station, while their pilot tries to maneuver them, them take some damage that shakes the entire pelican._

_Carolina braces while they take fire, "Never a dull moment, huh?"_

_"I'd get your team ready; we're gonna come in hot."_

_Carolina hops down from her seat and heads to the cargo bay in the back, where Agents North, South, Washington, Connecticut, and Indiana were prepping and putting on jetpacks, "You heard her. We're going to the main hangar, be ready for anything."_

_North chuckles, "Heh-- so much for a smooth ride."_

_His twin sister almost chuckles in the same tone as him, "Heh, what's the matter, feelin' sick?"_

_"Hey, I'm not the one that needed a barf bag on all our family trips."_

_"How are **you**  feeling?" Wash asks Carolina as he sits down beside North, his leader double checking her jetpack and plasma rifle, "Are you up to this?"_

_"Say what you wanna say, Wash."_

_"It's just- giving up your A.I. was a big deal. I thought mayb--"_

_"I'll be fine. Worry about yourself," she snaps as she sits down beside him._

_Across from them, South is seated next to C.T. "You're awfully quiet."_

_C.T. almost startles, "Oh- just, trying to prepare myself."_

_"Hey, worst comes to worst we'll just get kicked off the leaderboard. At least us ladies will be sticking together, right?"_

_Indiana had been listening to them from across the carbo bay, sitting down next to North while readjusting the knife she wore on the front of her suit, deep in thought. But she breaks out of it however when North flicks her knee gently, "You alright? You haven't said much all morning."_

_"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine," she reassures, North eyeing her through his helmet before letting it go and leaning back into his seat._

_The ship takes another hit that sends sparks into Four-Seven-Niner's face and she curses, "Dammit! Uh- hhh..." she channels to the back of the pelican, "Opening rear bay."_

_The Freelancers all stand up and approach the rear door as it opens, revealing the scrapyard of floating debris. Everyone tightens their weapons and psych themselves up for the jump, Carolina turning to her teammates, "Right! All together! Use your packs **sparingly**. Course correction only. You don't wanna end up like Georgia."_

_"Wait, what happened to Georgia?" Wash asks worriedly._

_"Nobody knows, they never found him!" South yells over the whipping winds, gunshots, and crashing debris from outside._

_"Are you sure these things are safe?"_

_"Yeah!"_

_North chambers a round in his sniper rifle, and an empty shell pops out in super impressive bullet time. They all start to crouch and Four-Seven-Niner whips the entire pelican around, practically throwing the Freelancers from out of the ship and flinging them towards the primary objective; the hangar. They activate their jetpacks, Carolina doing a front flip for good measure as they all fly towards the station with the open bay doors. The UNSC soldiers all barricade themselves behind a line of warthog vehicles and beginning firing once the Freelancer soldiers fly into the hangar. The twins land first, doing front rolls to catch their landing and firing back instantly. Carolina flies through the enemy line and takes out as many soldiers with her. When she lands, she takes out her special weapon of choice, some sort of ax and hammer all in one, and took out half a dozen men in one hit before turning around and doing the same all over again. Indiana takes a different approach, flying over to the side until she was lined up with the long row of vehicles that hid all the soldier. With all her might, she sets her jet pack to ramming speed and flies into the first warthog, causing it to tilt and create a domino effect, crashing and pushing the line of vehicles over to their sides, exposing the enemy soldiers. Meanwhile, Wash settles in behind a control panel._

_"Okay, where's that security override?" Wash types furiously into the keyboard, coming up empty over and over and becoming frustrated, "Come on... **dammit**!" He hits the panel with his fist out of anger, and a sign pops up saying ARTIFICIAL GRAVITY DISABLED, and he panics, "Uh, oh. That's not good. Hey guys? Things might get a little ...floaty."_

_Suddenly, all the vehicles and men start to float into the air, stupidly firing off their weapons and hitting each other, but instead of questioning it or yelling at Wash, the Freelancers use it to their advantage._

_"Everyone, enable Grav Boots!" Wash instructs, doing so to his boots as he clings onto the control panel.  
_

_North and South activate their gravity boots but use it for another purpose entirely. While the UNSC soldiers were floating, either dead or panicking, the twins activate their jet packs and run into the cloud of soldiers, guns blazing. South lands onto a floating car and shoots from there while North flies ahead. He noticed that Indiana was having some trouble with her gravity boots and remembered that she had taken them off on their last mission together as partners. Now, she was floating with the rest of the helpless soldiers but didn't let that stop her as she fired at some men while floating upside down. North descends his jet pack so that he would be flying underneath her and Indiana holds out her arm. When he grabs her, he drags her by her arm, but right side up this time and she uses her free arm to keep shooting while he flies her around. South jumps from car to car, sometimes using soldiers as stepping stones and continues to wreak havoc, all the while Carolina doesn't activate her gravity boots all for the purpose of pushing around cars and crashing them into soldiers, using zero-g as her advantage._

_Washington is still at the control panel, still furiously typing on the keypad, "Okay... okay... **got it! I got it!** "_

_He says this when the words ARTIFICIAL GRAVITY ENABLED appear on the screen, and just as a jeep comes straight for his head, "Oh, man."_

_He ducks out of the way just in time and the jeep crashes down onto the ground right behind, Wash standing up and continuing to type on the control panel, "Why do cars hate me?"_

_Everything falls haphazardly back to the floor, and Carolina lands gracefully while the twins use their jet packs to fly down to a safe landing, North letting go of Indiana once the ground appeared closer and she lands just as gracefully as Carolina._

_"They know we're inside," Carolina informs, "Wash, North, secure that hallway. Indi, scout ahead. South, see if you can access the Leader's location. We don't leave without him."_

_"Got it, I'm already on it," South says while marching away._

_Carolina turns around to look for another soldier, "C.T., get me-- **Where the hell is C.T.?!** "_

~~~~~~~~~

_"What do you mean, the Leader's not here?" Carolina demands while looking out of the space station, seeing York flying towards them in the distance but being knocked off course by a floating jeep._

_"Exactly what I said," South explains, "His last check-in is upstairs on the main deck, but his call sign just appeared in their internal frequencies. He's broadcasting from out in Bone Valley."_

_"Meaning he's not here."_

_"Gee, you're starting to sound like a broken record."_

_"Fine. Change of plans everyone, we're heading into the junkyard," Wash, Indiana, and North join the other two females by the opening of the space stations, "It's beginning to feel more and more like a setup."_

_As they get ready to fly off, looking up towards the skies dramatically, York flies in screaming through the hangar doors and crashes next to them, landing on his ass and falling flat on his back. All heads slowly turn to him and he sits up, groaning while shaking his head, "Uh! You would not believe the time I had getting back. It's nuts out there."_

_"Let's go people!" Carolina doesn't waste any more time as she and South fly off, North and Wash exchanging looks and shaking their heads._

_"What, no welcome back?" York asks pathetically.  
_

_"Alright, welcome back," North entertains while patting York's back._

_"Now try to catch up!" Indiana laughs as she and North fly off._

_York turns to Wash when the youngest member of their team was the only one to stay behind and help him up, "Where are they off to in such a hurry?"  
_

_"Found the Leader. He's hiding out in Bone Valley."_

_"We're going all the way over there? After what happened to Georgia?"_

_"Would someone **please**  tell me what happened to Georgia?" Wash exaggerates, his curiosity clearly getting the best of him._

_"Dude, you do not wanna know," York crouches low, gun in hand as he runs forward, activating his jet pack and flying off, leaving Wash all alone._

_"I really do though!"_


	14. Turbulence

The team drives for some time, and per Carolina's request, drive to a familiar place known as the Wind Power Facility. Grif's leading warthog pulls to a stop and the car behind him follows suit. Carolina, sporting herself on an ATV, stops along side them once she catches up and she storms off.

"What's going on? Why are we stopping?" Carolina snapped.

"We've been driving for  _hours,_ " Grif complains and everyone else gets out of the jeeps.

"And, we've got a lot more ground to cover. So let's keep moving."

"Listen, lady, I know this is your first road trip with us, but we've got a system. And that system includes snack breaks, bathroom breaks, and, stopping to take pictures of funny road signs."

"That's ridiculous."

"Not as ridiculous as Bonner Street."

Simmons groans, "So close dude.  _So close._ "

"It's out there Simmons," Grif comforts, "We just have to have faith that we'll find it."

Washington looks to Tucker, Ghost, and Caboose, who had been his road trip companions in the second car, "I should probably go stop her from killing your friend."

He takes off and both Tucker and Ghost turn their heads to Caboose talking, "Um, Tucker I just noticed something? Something really bad."

"Yeah, me too dude. I think our guy to girl ratio, peaked like five years ago," Tucker says this while getting a punch to the shoulder by Ghost before she takes off to follow Wash in case he needed an extra hand at saving Grif.

"Uh no no Tucker, um... yeah we, we forgot to bring Church."

"Wait, did you just now realize that Church isn't here?"

"He's not gonna be pleased about this one."

" _Calm down moron_ , we didn't leave him behind."

"Uh, yes but you see, I am not seeing him, so... where is he?"

A ghostly Church appears over Tucker's left shoulder, groaning exasperatedly, "You don't wanna know."

" **Church!**  You- you're so small. ...I would like to feed you a small cracker," Caboose whispers excitedly.

"How do you like the new place, Tinkerbell?" Tucker teases.

"You mean your disgusting storage unit?"

"What? How is my storage unit 'disgusting'?"

"Well, for starters, I had to delete fifty gigs worth of crap just so I could fit in this thing."

Tucker laughs nervously, "Whohohoa hang on a second dude; you didn't delete my-- uh, ' _home movies_ ' folder did you?"

"And that brings me to my second point."

"Where's Ghost?" Tucker just notices that she left, "She would've made a comment about that by now."

"Speaking of Ghost..." Church looks down nervously, "How is she doing?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, it was just before I left did she... remember everything..."

"Oh, you mean does she remember being a clone of a dead Freelancer, how the Director hurt her and wiped her memories, sticking her in Blood Gulch with the likes of  _you_? Oh yeah, she's dandy," Tucker comments sarcastically, Church lowering his head in shame even further.

Meanwhile, Carolina, Ghost, and Wash are overlooking all of the Reds and Blues from a catwalk at the facility. Carolina is not too pleased.

"What a bunch of worthless idiots," she mutters, causing Ghost's entire persona to stiffen.

"Yeah, they're idiots, but, they're not that bad. Once you get to know 'em," Wash assures.

"Hm."

"You know, we almost managed to trap the Meta the last time we were here."

"But you didn't," Carolina rubs in extra salt to that wound before starting to walk away.

Wash sighs, "No. I guess not."

"But then again, neither did  _you,_ " Ghost finally mentions nonchalantly.

Carolina turns back around to the point her head could have fallen off, "You watch your mouth,  _Indiana_!"

Ghost stomps up to her face, "Why don't you make me, bitch! This isn't Project Freelancer anymore. I don't take orders from you! And my name is  _Ghost_. You will do well to remember it."

~~~~~~~~~

_Back at the UNSC Scrap Metal Recycling Station, many years ago, the Freelancers are flying through space on their jetpacks, flying through debris as the whole space station became so eerily quiet. No gunshots, no fighter jets... nothing._

_"I don't get it," Carolina mutters, "Everything's stopped."_

_"Maybe they're retreating," North suggests._

_"Nothing left out here but a bunch of junk," York states._

_As they flew around, elsewhere, Four-Seven-Niner is just flying aimlessly at this point, looking around before she dialed in to talk to the Mother of Invention, "This is Four-Seven-Niner. I've lost visual on targets. It's like they all just... left."_

_Back on the bridge of the Mother of Invention, the Counsellor and the Director are walking towards the window to check out the emptiness in space themselves, and for once, the Director didn't have his hands behind his back until he stood still, "Sir, their outpost is disabled. And it looks as if we have driven off the remaining fighters."_

_"Well, good riddance to bad rubbish, Counsellor."_

_"Indeed, Sir. All enemy systems appear to be offline. Wait..."_

_The Counsellor looks off in the distance, half blinded by the shining star casting over a random cloud of rubble just far enough out of firing range. He could have sworn he saw something move._

_"What is it?"_

_The Staff of Charon, which looks just like the Mother of Invention, emerges from its concealed position among the scrap, the star's bright light was able to cover them even better as they were directly in front of it. Impossible to see something if the light of a star is covering it._

_Four-Seven-Niner sees it and radios in the Freelancers, "It's a trap!"_

_"Wow, **great**  Star Wars reference," Wash comments as the agents are flying towards Bone Valley, high fiving Indiana when she flew past him while laughing._

**_"No reference, idiot! They're hiding in the junkyard repeat, it's actually a trap!"_ **

_The Freelancers stop joking around and they all look to each other in worry, heads snapping towards the Mother of Invention when they heard the Director shouting orders over comms._

**_"Evasive maneuvers!"_ **

_The Staff of Charon fires on the Mother of Invention and does a bunch of damage, going toe to toe and leaving the Mother of Invention totally opened and unprepared.  
_

_The Counsellor and the Director regain their footing while looking around wildly, "Son of a bi-!"_

_The Director's comment is cut off as the entire ship begins to rock after taking more hits. Everyone onboard began losing their balance and sustaining major injuries. The bridge of the Mother of Invention even lost power for a split second, the lights flickering on and off._

_The Staff of Charon suddenly vanishes, space warping away and retreating, long gone before anyone could see it. Four-Seven-Niner flies overheard where she last saw them, all the while noticing a bunch of blinking red lights all around her. She detects something on thermals and suddenly her alarms go off, warning her of a NUCLEAR DEVICE DETECTED, "Guys, get out of there, they've outfitted that piece of junk with nukes!"_

_The Director hears this over comms, "Fall back, Counsellor."_

_"Falling back, Director."_

_The Mother of Invention turns around very quickly for a ship that size, and the Freelancers start moving faster, panic finally setting in as Carolina waves her arms for the others to catch up, "Go, go, go!"_

_Four-Seven-Niner's pelican is flying far away from the junkyard as fast as possible just overheard with no signs of slowing down, but waiting all the same for the Freelancers to high tail it out of here._

_"Get inside, now!" Four-Seven-Niner screams at her radio._

_The rear hatch of the dropship opens, and Carolina is the first to fly inside. She beckons South and York in and then noticed North and Indiana get in all by themselves. Carolina runs back to the opening however when she noticed that Wash was still out there._

_"Wash, what're you doing? Get in here, use your jetpack!" York yelled after him._

_"I-I don't wanna end up like Georgia!" Wash yelled nervously, taking his sweet time._

_"Wash, get your ass in here now!" Indiana screams, turning her jetpack on and ready to fly back out there._

_"Oh, for God's sake," Carolina growls and holds out her grappling hook. She fires the grappling hook at his codpiece, heating it head on and only gave Wash a second to comprehend this before pulling him in. Wash screams as he's suddenly being dragged behind the dropship before Carolina gives it a rough yank and he's suddenly flying **into**  the dropship. He hits the latch of the cargo bay, groaning and landing on the door before Carolina pulls him in a second time and he's finally inside, whining. Four-Seven-Niner closes the rear door and takes off faster than she logically could with that kind of ship._

_A piece of debris hits the nuclear device, which detonates into an explosion of pure of blues and yellows, just behind the dropship and causes it to shake and blare red alarms, just like the ending of Aliens._

_"Everyone okay back there?" Four-Seven-Niner calls back._

_"Never better! Thanks for asking!" York yells back up to their pilot, the others groaning or catching their breath._

_**"What the Hell just happened, people? Tell me you accomplished your mission!"**  The Director's voice yelled through everyone's earpiece._

_Carolina patches through to him, "Negative, Sir. Their leader escaped."_

_"Well, looks like the enemy lives to fight another day," North mumbles as he, York, and Wash all sit down, side by side._

_" **Again** ," South reminds everyone with a groan._

_**"That is most unfortunate,"**  The Director responds,  **"Are all agents accounted for?"**_

_Everyone exchanges a look, South folding her arms defensively as Carolina replies, shame in her voice, "All except C.T. Sir. She's gone."_

**_"Define 'gone,' Agent."_ **

_Carolina and South exchange an indescribable look, not sure how to respond._

~~~~~~~~~

Back at the Wind Power Facility, Grif is quick to complain once his leader arrives, "Sarge, how come every time the Blues get involved in something stupid and dangerous, we get dragged along, too?"

"You know what they say: keep your friends close, and your enemies within range of your primary firearm!"

"Sir, I reali--"

"So you can shoot 'em!" Sarge aims his rifle.

Simmons waits a moment to make sure he doesn't get interrupted again before speaking, "I realize that we agreed to help Ghost, Wash, and Carolina, but how do we know that they're gonna help  _us_?"

"What do you mean?" Grif asked.

"I mean, if we run into trouble, do you really think they'll stick their neck out for us?"

Sarge grunts, "Well, for a backstabbing doublecrossing no-good dirty rotten Blue, that Wash fellow isn't too bad."

"What a ringing endorsement," Grif muttered sarcastically.

"But Ghost is a Blue! Once a dirty Blue, always a dirty Blue. So shoot her!"

"Wait, what? You'd rather we shoot her than Wash? Even though we've known her longer? That's sexist."

"I'm more worried about Carolina," Simmons intervenes, "What if after all this is over she decides to get rid of us?"

"Why would she do that?"

"I don't know, to tie up loose ends? To cover her trail? Don't you watch spy movies? They love that shit!"

"My God man, get a hold of yourself. You're making us look weak in front of the enemy," Sarga motions to Caboose, who just happened to be standing beside them while they have this conversation.

"Hello," he hums.

"Listen. I don't wanna hear talk about secret double-crosses or mysterious subplots or Freelancer conspiracies anymore! We've had enough of those going on around here as it is."

Sarge wanders off, causing Simmons to turn to his usual rant buddy, "But don't you think that--"

"Sorry, sorry, I can't really talk right now, Simmons. I've gotta go secure a perimeter over at the uh, shady spot over there."

Grif wanders off, leaving Simmons alone with Caboose as the maroon soldier turns to the Blue, "I liked it better when we only had to fight  **you**."

"Yeah, Blue Team is pretty awesome right now. Right Tucker, right Church?"

Caboose turns around and doesn't see them, then turns around in a full circle and sees Simmons again, "Hello."

"Uh, where's the rest of your team?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Ooh, tension! It's been like 30 whole minutes since you guys had this argument!" -Mikey (TMNT 2014)
> 
> Basically sums up Carolina and Ghost's conversations 99.9% of the time


	15. The New Kid

_The Mother of Invention is flying ahead, floating through space. And inside, we find York and Wash, staring at something on North we can't exactly see yet... but we were all thinking it. Bow chicka bow wow... please don't kill me._

_"I expected it to be... bigger," Wash admits._

_"Why? You've seen mine, it's small, too," York reminds him._

_"Yeah, but he's green."_

_"How does that even make sense?"_

_North speaks up next when he noticed that Wash hasn't looked away yet, "Hey, Wash, quit staring. You're making it nervous."_

_"Yeah, it's just- they're so small."_

_"Small, yeah. But you wouldn't **believe**  what it can do," York comments._

_"Besides, you'd better get used to it," North adds, "You're gonna have one of your own soon enough."_

_South walks in at possibly the worst time, probably gagging at the men, "Ugh, give me a break."_

_North looks over his shoulder, "It's alright Theta, come on out. People just want to say hello to you."_

_Everyone's eyes pan down to reveal the Theta A.I. hiding behind North's leg, glowing pink and purple colors. Y'all can sigh in relief now... or moan in disappointment. Whatever floats your boat._

_"I don't know," Theta speaks for the first time, and as it turns out, the fragment has the voice of a child, "There's so many of them. And they're so... big."_

_"You see," Wash crouches down to get a better look, "I'm not the only one who thinks size is important."_

_"I'm just gonna let that one go," York mumbles._

_"It's okay Theta, they're all friends of mine. For reasons beyond my comprehension," North explains to his new partner, who now appears over his shoulder._

_"They're looking at me."  
_

_"That's 'cause they wanna meet you. This is York and Wash."_

_"Hey, there little... computer... dude."_

_You tried your best, Wash._

_"Give it a rest, Wash," York shakes his head before speaking more softly to the A.I., "Theta, I have a friend just like you. His name is Delta."_

_"Really?"_

_"Yeah. You, you wa-- you wanna say hello to him?"_

_"Uhm... York?"_

_"It's okay man, just for a second."_

_Delta appears over York's shoulder, greeting Theta as they come face to face, "Hello, Theta. I am Delta. It is nice to meet you."_

_"H-hello."_

_"See, everybody here is nice," North assures the new kid, "Isn't that right, Delta?"_

_"Agent North, I do not feel qualified to make a judgment about humans with whom I've only limited experience. Also, 'nice' is a rather subjective term for--"_

_"Delta..." York warns._

_Delta pauses, now putting on a fake facade, "Oh, yes. Everyone here is 'nice.' Within standard **acceptable**  deviations."_

_"Delta!"_

_"And that's my sister over there, South," North motions over his shoulder, South standing against the wall with crossed arms, "We're twins."_

_"I have a sister," Theta comments._

_"You do?" Wash asks._

_"We have many siblings."_

_"What do you mean by sib--"_

_"Hello, everyone," all agents come front and center as the Director and Counsellor arrive, Theta shyly disappearing and Delta floating back to York's side, "I hope you're ready to begin our test. **Delta** , I believe you know the protocol about communicating directly with other A.I. units."_

_"I apologize, Sir, I will log off."_

_"Don't. I want you to help administer the test. Gentlemen, if you will take the floor."_

_"Okay, just like we practiced," North turns around, taking out his sniper rifle as Theta appears in front of him, the others walking off to watch from behind the glass._

_"Are they all going to watch?" Theta asks worriedly._

_"Of course," North says appraisingly, "They wanna see if you're as good as I said you are."_

_"Really? Well, I guess that's okay," Theta says more calmly and comfortably._

_"That's the spirit. Come on, let's do this."_

_North walks off to head into the training room with Theta, meanwhile, Indiana enters the room, eager to watch as she joins York. The Director walks up to York and Delta, addressing the green fragment._

_"Delta, I expect you to follow protocol at all times."_

_"We were only attempting to make the new unit more comfortable."_

_"It's my fault, Sir, I asked him to. The new kid seems kinda shy," York pitches in, in which case the Counsellor walks up to them._

_"Agent North was paired with Theta for a reason. His nurturing nature is best suited to care for Theta's ...unique personality."_

_"Yeah, he is used to lookin' out for people, isn't he?" York says this while looking at Indiana and South, standing side by side while chatting with Wash and looking down at the training room floor._

_"Quite," the Counsellor agrees with a smile, "Delta, your skills are more, analytical, in nature."_

_"If I may disagree, Theta has made double the number of declarative statements since my appearance. That indicates a hundred percent increase in confidence since we modified our interaction strategy. I think that speaks volumes about my caring algorithms."_

_"You make an excellent point, Delta. Let's begin the test."_

_Delta disappears and now everyone turns to the windows. North is now standing in the middle of the training room floor, with everyone else is observing from above in the observation room._

_"Begin the test," the Director orders._

_Theta appears over North's shoulder just as several miniguns rise from the ground around him and begin firing, North nearly flinching and waiting for the impact but pauses when a bubble shield goes up around him and Theta._

_"As you may recall, Agent North used his equipment in the field on a previous mission," the Counsellor explains to the audience watching North down below._

_"He was able to successfully maintain a deflective shield for three point four seconds, in order to block an explosive projectile attack," Delta exclaims._

_"And somehow managed not to kill himself in the process," the Director adds bluntly all the while South and Indi share a look, both having been on that previous mission._

_"The manoeuver only had a point-one percent chance of success. Had he performed it nine hundred and ninety-nine more times, I'm rather certain he would have been obliterated on each one."_

_"Hey, I'd rather be lucky than good any day," York tells Delta._

_"You usually are," Wash comments._

_"Luck will only take one so far. I am in the business of getting results," Indiana looks at the Director in the corner of her helmet visor at the familiarity of his words, "Let's see what Theta can do. Delta, reduce shield strength by fifty percent."_

_"Modifying."_

_The shield visibly and audibly loses power, blinking and shrinking all at once as North notes, "Power dropping! Theta, use the remaining power to compensate for critical tiles!"_

_"Okay."_

_Just the tiles in front of the bullets stay up, everything else goes down in order to save power._

_"Add variables," the Director orders Delta._

_"Acknowledged."_

_The guns start rotating around them, along with making up and down movements while the active parts of the shield move with them._

_"Great job, Theta," North encourages._

_"Stop talking to me, you'll mess me up!" Theta squeaks._

_"Right. Sorry."_

_"Reset," the Director orders as everything stops and returns to their starting positions, with the bubble shield still up. The Director addresses the agent in the training room using the intercom systems, "Agent North, your objective now is to eliminate all turrets. Begin."_

_The guns appear again and begin firing, all the while Wash turns towards the others, "I thought the shield works both ways, there's no way for him to attack."_

_"Theta, analyze turret rate of fire, adjust shield to match," North says over the gunfire._

_"Okay. Done."_

_North raises his sniper rifle, "Firing, on my mark."_

_"Ready!"_

_"Mark!"_

_North fires, and in slow motion, we see the bullet approach the shield, the relevant tiles of the shield go down, the bullet passes through, the shield goes back up, and the bullet takes out a turret. Several more gunshots later, all the turrets are eliminated._

_"All targets eliminated," Delta informs._

_"Test complete. Excellent work," the Director congratulates North and the new member of the team._

_"Wow. Wow! That was incredible!" Wash cheers._

_York laughs, "Heh heh! Yeah, what did I tell you!"_

_"And we're sure they don't get any bigger?" Wash looks past South, who just turns and walks away._

_York chuckles, "Dude, you are killing me with that."_

_Indiana laughs after the Director and Counsellor have left with their... results. She, York, and Wash run down to meet North in the training room, all of them smiling and laughing as they join him, high fiving and complimenting him._

_Theta hides behind North's head until he sees Indiana, then he jumps out of hiding, shocked, "Woah... is she an angel?"_

_North looks between his A.I. and Indiana before stating in an infatuated voice, "No, Theta... That's my girl."_

_Normally, girls would be offended if they were called anything less than an angel, but this is North we're talking about. He practically worships the ground Indiana walks on. Being called his girl instead of an angel? That's a compliment, and Washington and York were both sure that if Indiana didn't have her helmet on, she'd be blushing madly._


	16. What's the "I" Stand For?

Washington and Ghost eventually find Carolina inside the wind facility, cursing to herself as she comes up empty, "Looking for something?"

"Leads, information,  _anything_. You said Maine had been through here, right?"

"Well yeah," Was confirms, "But that was ages ago."

"Then  **look closely**. Don't tell me hanging around these morons has made you soft."

Ghost growls, "And don't tell me your isolated travels have made you insane."

Carolina and Ghost are spending far too much time glaring at each other to even notice Tucker sneaking inside the facility with Church, hiding up in the doorway, far from the Freelancers' eyes.

"Hey, she said morons. That's us," Tucker whispered to his shoulder devil.

"Tucker, shut up, let me listen."

"The Meta was attempting to transfer energy from these turbines into his suit. It was the only way he could keep his equipment running," Wash tells Carolina as they look up at the machines.

"Poor Maine."

Wash looks over at the former Freelancer leader, "Carolina, it wasn't your fault."

"But it was  _my A.I._ "

"None of us could have known what would happen."

"Yeah, well sometimes I'm not so sure," Carolina says as she begins to start pacing.

"What."

"We were told that the A.I. were specifically designed for each of us. North was chosen for Theta," Carolina ignores the way Ghost's fist clenched hard enough to crack, "York had Delta. Sigma was mine."

"What are you saying?" Wash asked.

"You really think the Director didn't know what would happen?"

"Carolina, that's ridiculous."

"He always had his little experiments. He just forgot to take a few extra variables into account."

"And what about now? The whole world thinks you're dead. Do you think he knows you're coming for him?"

"Yes, I do. And for once, I look forward to proving him right," Carolina stands in front of the machines as they hummed with life, deep in thought as Wash sighs.

"The Director was always hard on you."

Ghost goes strangely quiet, either at the mention of the Director or maybe because her six sense for  _morons_  was going off as somewhere above her, she could hear whispered bickering.

"Dude, he said hard-on. Heh heh. Bow chicka cha--"

"They're gonna hear you."

"He was hard on all of us," Carolina corrects Wash, and it drives Tucker up the wall.

"Oh, come on. You gotta let me have that one."

"Quiet, you're gonna give away our position."

"I've got about five positions in mind for her. Bow chicka--"

"Tucker! I'm serious."

Ghost wasn't sure if Wash could hear them as well as she could, since she has a knack of sensing whenever her  _idiots_  were close by, but the male Freelancer, now that he's actually spent time with them, led the conversation on with Carolina with what Ghost swore was a teasing tone of voice, "Yeah, you're right. But you have to admit, he was also pretty hard on himself."

"That's it, I'm doin' it."

"Tucker!"

Ghost sees Tucker stand up from his hiding place before he could say another word, " **Bow chicka bow** \--" However, neither he nor Ghost were expecting the gunshot that landed very near his head, causing Tucker to duck out of the way again, " _Whoa!_  Same team, same team!"

"What, are you doing here?" Carolina growls as she and Wash step up to stand next to Ghost, who had her line of sight on the simulation troopers the whole time.

Tucker moves forward as Church tries defending him, "Okay, take it easy, Carolina," he appears over Tucker's shoulder, "We just wanted information."

"Epsilon?" Wash calls.

"Look, if you three are planning on dragging us around wherever you want, the least you can do is fill us in."

Tucker mutters under his breath, "I'll fill her in. Bow chick--"

He ducks to avoid another gunshot, getting Church very annoyed very quickly, "Tucker!"

"Sorry."

Ghost spins around to the only other female who still has her weapon pointed up at them, "Carolina-!"

"You and your squad are on a need to know basis," Carolina talks over all of them, "And right now, you don't need to know, anything."

"Wha- seriously?" Church sasses, "Jesus. You're worse than Tex."

Two gunshots go through Church, but it obviously doesn't damage him. All the same, Ghost almost screamed in fear despite the fact he was still an A.I.

"Okay, that one was on you," Tucker tells him.

Carolina growls, " **Get out.** "

"Fine. We're leaving already," Church floats off, then appears again slightly to the left, addressing the other Blue, "Hey, Tucker, I need you to leave. I can't actually do it on my own."

"Carolina, you've gotta calm down," Wash tries saying after Tucker leaves, only to be interrupted.

"Don't tell me how to lead my squad, Washington. Now, sweep the area, and report back to me when you're done," she growls again before leaving the room.

Washington sighs, "On it, boss."

He forgot that he had another hardheaded female in the room with him, but her voice made Wash tighten his grip around his gun, "Her squad my ass. No one shoots at my boys, but me. And as for  _you_ : What the hell, Wash? Carolina shows up and now you're following her orders? She's not your boss anymore. She's partially to blame for what happened--"

Wash spins back around at Ghost, his voice dropping to something furious, "You know what, now that you remember everything, I don't feel bad for a second when I say  _screw_   _you_ , Ghost."

Wash walks away from Ghost, leaving her there alone. She lowers her head, sighing, all the while thinking back to when there was a time a much younger Wash would almost follow her around like a puppy. When things felt a lot easier despite the fact that Freelancer was tearing itself apart. 

~~~~~~~~~

Outside the facility, Caboose sees Carolina walking by, "Um, hey hi, hi Carolina, um excuse me, um, have you seen Church lately? Uh yeah, he and I were supposed to hang out after we rescued him."

"Tell your friends to stay out of my way, or else."

"Or else what?"

"Or else, they'll bring out my ugly side."

Caboose almost sounds baffled, "Oh, co- oh- come on Carolina I bet you are really pretty under that armor."

"What?" Carolina, asked, stunned.

"I mean, you know. I mean who hasn't- I mean I understand there's some helmet hair. We all have helmet hair time to time but, you know."

She growls, hating to hear this idiot rant but knowing that she couldn't kill him... or else Epsilon will never help her and Ghost would give her a world of pain... not thank Carolina would ever admit that.

Caboose clears his throat, "Yes, um, so anyway, uh what did you want me to tell Church and Tucker again?

Carolina draws her gun and fires at a bunch of portable power generators behind Caboose, and he barely flinches when they blow up and send the hairs on the back of his neck on edge. 

"Just try and put that into words," Carolina grumbles before walking away.

Caboose is left to his own devices, in which he uses to mock the sound of the generators blowing up, "...Bkwwww-ch-explosion."

As Carolina walks past a jeep, all the members of the Reds appear to be hiding behind it as their hiding place, in which Grif pops his head up to speak up, "You know, I- I'm beginning to think Simmons might have had the right idea about this Carolina chick."

"See, I told you!" Simmons yelps as he pops his head up, Sarge right behind him.

"Normally I would agree with Simmons, but in this case, that would also cause me to agree with Grif! Therefore, I will simply grunt, ambiguously," Sarge grunts ambiguously.

Sometime later, Wash approaches the Reds while looking around, "Hey, did Carolina come this way, we've gotta get going soon."

Grif and Sarge exchange a look before the orange soldier speaks up, "Right. We've been meaning to talk to you about that."

"About what?"

"This whole 'finding the Director' thing."

"You mean the mission."

"Yeah. That."

"We were thinking," Simmons adds in, "Now that we helped you find Church, we should probably just let you handle the rest. You know, wouldn't wanna cramp your style? That whole Freelancer thing? You're good at that."

"So you're abandoning the mission," Wash states knowingly.

"Red team  _never_  abandons a mission!" Sarge yells, "We're just accepting an alternate mission. Of different risk."

"Less risk."

"Less is different," Simmons pitches.

"Securing the front lines of Red Base," Sarge announces.

"Going home is risky? On what scale?" Wash tries to indulge.

"Well, we haven't been there in ages. Who knows what kind of nefarious ne'er-do-wells have moved in on our territory?"

Washington entertains the idea with a sly hum, "Hm. I guess you're right."

The Reds go silent as they can't believe their own ears, Sarge most of all, "What?"

"Well, you  _are_  wanted criminals at the UNSC. I wouldn't be surprised if they were setting up an ambush for you right now."

"...What?"

"I suppose I can't stop you. Anyway, I'm gonna go find Carolina. Good luck!" Wash walks away, grinning triumphantly under his helmet when all he hears behind him is a bunch of Reds trying to talk all at once.

"On second thought you could probably use the extra help!"

"Yeah, we're sticking with you!"

"Never abandon the mission!"

"Semper the Sempering thing. Semper s-saaa, fuck it."

~~~~~~~~~

_On the Mother of Invention, things were quiet for once. No sparring was scheduled, no missions needed planning. But that didn't mean the Freelancers had a free period to just relax and be normal human beings. Today, on one of their off days, the Freelancers were forced to sit and learn like some kind of gifted youngster. They all sat around in a makeshift classroom, with the Director standing up front, silent as the grave all the while the Counsellor taught the lecture._

_"And as the Director accurately predicted in his thesis on the subject, we see that cognitive impression modeling can be segregated from the host. Naturally, this remains an inherently deconstructive process. But most of all the biggest concern of any full A.I. entity is the prospect of rampancy, which we covered last week."_

_The tables were laid out in pews, with an aisle down the middle. On either side of the front of the classroom sat Wyoming, North, then Indiana right next to him, Theta floating on the other side of him. The next aisle up, South was sitting alone on one side, and then York and Wash sat together, Delta also floating beside his assigned Freelancer. Behind South was Carolina, and behind Carolina was Maine, his own mysterious A.I. floating next to him. None of the Freelancers had their helmets on._

_The Director spoke up next, "Of course our A.I. units are what we call fragments, so there's very little chance that a personality subroutine can run off unchecked."_

_"Are there any questions?" The Counsellor looked around the classroom._

_"Yeah, I got a question," South shouts out rather obnoxiously, "Why do we need to learn all this stuff?"_

_"A.I. theory is like vehicle maintenance, South. If we're going to use this equipment-- **any** equipment- we need to know how to care for it."_

_"Oh, yeah, like a coffee maker, or a vacuum cleaner," South retorts to Carolina._

_Theta and Delta exchange glances to each other, North's A.I. driven almost speechless, "Uhh..."_

_"That was rather rude," Delta speaks for him, Theta dropping his makeshift skateboard._

_"Oh, cry me a river, light bulb."_

_"No. Not the same as that," Carolina tells her so._

_"Uh-huh, I don't even have one 'cause **someone** , didn't bring enough to share so why am I sitting through, this elementary, classroom, bullshit," South seethes through gritted teeth, the Counsellor and Director exchanging looks._

_"I don't have one either, South," Carolina tries to reason._

_York wasn't helping on the subject, "That's only because you gave yours to Maine."_

_"He needed to be able to communicate after his injury."_

_South huffs sarcastically, "Oh yeah, that's the only reason you did it. You're a real hero, Carolina," if South noticed the way her twin brother took a deep breath while shaking his head disapprovingly, she didn't show it, "It's not like **Maine**  has much to say anyway."_

_Maine suddenly grunts, grabbing everyone's attention and they turn to the back of the classroom, where Maine's face is hidden in the shadows, but his A.I., Sigma, was not, flaring brightly like a live flame, "I would like to say, just how appreciative the two of us are for Carolina's sacrifice. Agent Carolina, if anyone can excel without an A.I. unit, it is you."_

_Carolina smiles slightly, "Thank you, Sigma."_

_"And Agent Texas of course. That goes without saying."_

_Carolina turns back around at that, her tone flattening, "Right."_

_"I notice **she**  doesn't have to attend class," South growls._

_"Agent Texas doesn't need this training," the Director steps forward, losing his patience._

_"What the Director's trying to say is that Agent Texas has already completed her A.I. theory coursework," the Counsellor defends almost routinely._

_"The new recruit's advancing, huh?" Indiana leans back in her seat, crossing her arms with a smug grin, "One could say almost unnaturally quick... Sir," she adds as the Director glares at her for the umpteenth time during this session alone._

_"And what about her?" South bitches while pointing at Indiana, glaring at the Director, "You treat **her**  like royalty and yet, she doesn't have an A.I."_

_Indiana flips her head towards South's direction, nearly yelling, "Because unlike **you** , I don't need one!"_

_North nearly almost has to stand up to put himself between Indiana and South before the Counsellor is quick to intervene before anything could start, "I think that's enough for today."_

_Sigma raises his hand, "If I may, Counsellor, I have just one last question."_

_York sits back down along with the rest of the crew who had already begun to stand up, "Oh, come on."_

_"--on the different levels of A.I. awareness and rampancy."_

_"Melancholia, anger," the Counsellor indulges while pacing slowly._

_"Specifically the fourth stage of rampancy."_

_The Counsellor pauses and turns back to look up at Sigma, intrigued with a small smile, "Metastability."_

_"Yes. The Meta stage. In which an A.I. can be considered fully human."_

_"That is only theoretical, Sigma. No A.I. has ever achieved such a state."_

_"But, it is possible."_

_"In theory, but--"_

_"But possible. I find that very interesting."_

_"Remember, Sigma, you are not even a full A.I. You are what we call a fragment. So something of that magnitude would be even more difficult for... an entity such as yourself."_

_"Well, as the Director always says, it is important to have ambition."_

_"Why yes, it is," the Director states with a stern tone in his voice, "Class is dismissed."_

_Everyone finally stands up and files out, but Sigma and Maine stay behind, Delta noticing right away and holds back from York just enough to call to his brother, "Sigma, are you coming?"_

_"Yes. Yes, I will be joining you shortly."_


	17. Oversight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Short chapter ahead

UNSC Wind Power Facility, Present Day. Wash walks down along the beach of the facility, finding Carolina looking out over the ocean, deep in thought.

"Facility is clear."

"Find anything?" She asks.

"Nothing we didn't already know."

"Figured as much. This place was a dead end."

"Sorry, boss."

"The structure we're going to next. You're positive our target was there."

"I know what I saw, that's why it's on our list."

"But I know what  _I_  saw," she turns to him, "And it doesn't make any sense."

"All the more reason to investigate."

"Alright then. Let's go. Let's go find C.T."

~~~~~~~~~

"So how do you even know this Carolina chick?" Tucker asks as the Reds and Blues wait for Wash and Carolina, Ghost included as she leans against one of the cars, listening in on her friends.

"Oh, Tex used to tell me stories."

"You mean tell  _Alpha_  stories."

"Oh yeah, I guess. You know, h-whatever. I-it's hard for me to know whose memory I'm in."

"Oh yeah, the same thing happens to me with things I'm in," Caboose explains, "Like my helmet. That's why I wrote my name on the inside of it. I used my tongue. That was hard to do. Now I can't pronounce my p-gnai."

"So, how many,  _people_  are you?" Tucker asks.

"H-I don't know, a bunch I guess."

"Are they all assholes?"

"Yeah. A dozen different fragments, we all have the same shitty circle of friends. Lucky us."

Ghost scoffs playfully, "Love you, too, Church."

~~~~~~~~~

_Back in the past, aboard the Mother of Invention, Theta is putting on a fireworks display for North in the mess hall, as North just smiles in wonder and pride, "That's really great, Theta."_

_"Thank you. I worked super hard on it."_

_South passes by with her lunch tray, taking one look at North and Theta before walking away, "Ugh."_

_"Hey, Theta," York enters the room, swinging his legs over the bench to sit across from them, "You mind if I talk to North for a second?"_

_"Uhh, okay."_

_"Need you to shut down while we chat, okay? Delta too," he motions to the green fragment floating by his head, "You know, it's the rules."_

_Delta shuts down without another room, while Theta looks up to his paired Freelancer for confirmation, "North?"_

_"It'll be okay. I won't talk too long," North offers his hand to Theta and the tiny fragment steps into it._

_"Alright."_

_Theta disappears and then North address York from across the table, "What's up?"  
_

_"I need to ask you about something."_

_"Uh- okay, shoot."_

_"I need to ask you about the Alpha."_

_North nearly startles, look over his shoulder before leaning closer towards York, "Where did you hear that word?"_

_"Same place you heard it," York points at his own head, "Up here."_

_Wash is there now, too, sitting next to North with a drink and a silly straw in it, "What's an Alpha?"_

_"Wash," York turns to him, "Are you eating inside your helmet?"_

_Washington chews without swallowing, "Maybe. Delta said they got the helmet waste disposal out of Beta, and that it would make my eating more efficient."_

_York laughs out of disbelief, "And you believed that? Maybe he is getting more personable."_

_"It's not **an**  Alpha, Wash," North explains, "It's  **the**  Alpha. Theta thinks about him a lot-- more than  **thinks** , really, he's, he's obsessed."_

_"Delta, too," York agrees, "You know how all the units call each other brother? They call this one father. No, that's not right."_

_"Creator."_

_"Yeah..."_

_"I thought the Director would be their creator," Wash wonders while he seemingly conjures up a banana out of thin air... still wearing his helmet._

_"Haven't you been paying any attention in class? A.I.s aren't created, they're **copies**  of someone," York recaps for him.  
_

_North turns back to Wash, "But our A.I.s are just fragments."_

_"Which begs the question, where's the original?"_

_"So this Alpha thing is what creates the fragments."_

_"Jesus, will you swallow for God's sake," York bashes Wash teasingly._

_Washington finally swallows and talks more clearly, "It creates them?"_

_Now he has an apple, too. North and York don't pay attention to those sort of details however and the purple and green soldier continues, "Yea- Theta isn't clear, it creates them or, something."_

_"Yeah. It's the 'or something' part that has me worried," York mutters._


	18. Fall From Heaven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: LONGEST chapter ahead ;)

The team finds themselves driving through the desert and stumbling upon yet another familiar landscapes. The Ancient Alien Temples, Present Day.

When they all park, Carolina jumps out and waits for Wash and Ghost to join her, "This where you found the body?"

"Yep. She's right up there," Wash motions over in the direction in front of them.

"We'll see; take me there. Sync?"

"Sync."

"Automatic dishwasher," Caboose pitches in.

Ghost sighs before half-heartedly replying, "Sync."

The three Freelancers run off together, leaving the Reds and Blues behind as they go and investigate. 

Tucker jumps out of the car, Church appearing over his shoulder, "Man, where was this chick back when we had that awesome tank? Bitches love tanks."

"I don't get it. What is she looking for?"

"You tell me. I don't know half of what's happening these days. You found me  _here_ , remember?"

"Oh, yeah. You were actually kind of a badass that time."

"Dude, I'm kind of a badass all the time. You guys just happened to notice it then."

"Ah, that's not true," Caboose says from right next to them, "I never noticed it."

"Look, the point is she's not telling us everything. I just don't understand why," Church trails off.

"Who knows man?" Tucker groans, "I've tried everything I can to get some info out of her. I tried hitting on her, I tried sleeping with her, I tried making out with her."

"Sounds like a complete effort," Church muttered.

"Dude,  _no kidding_. I used the whole playbook. I even used my best pickup line: 'Hey baby, did you fall from heaven? 'Cause I've always wanted to bone an angel'."

"Tucker, be honest, have you ever had sex with anything besides an alien?"

"Church, the more important question here is, do you know any girls who aren't complete bitches that won't sleep with me?"

Church laughs, "Sorry, dude, that seems to be all I have in my life."

Tucker whines, "You're like the worst wingman ever."

"Of all time," Caboose finishes.

~~~~~~~~~

_Aboard the Mother of Invention, Four-Seven-Niner is prepping her ship for another mission on the hangar deck, ordering one of the worker's around as he pushes around some equipment for her, "No, no. This one goes here, **that**  one goes  **there**."_

_The worker grunts as he starts rearranging the equipment. The Freelancers approach the dropship, lost in conversation as York is trying to tell the same exact story yet again._

_"So when are you and Benny gonna jump out of this thing," Wash mutters while motioning to the pelican._

_Indiana seemed invested in the story, despite the hundreds of other times she's heard it, walking backward to continue indulging York, "Did you wreck him?"_

_"Wrecked him? Damn near killed him," he answers, making her laugh._

_"York, how many times are we gonna have to listen to this story? Get a new one," North scoffs playfully._

_"I hope the seatbelts are better," Wash appeared to be in a grumpy mood whenever the dropships were involved, York continuing his story while Carolina walked up to their pilot.  
_

_"So anyway, like I was saying--"_

_"We ready?"_

_"Just about," Four-Seven-Niner tells Carolina, "Running final checks now."_

_"Alright you heard her, everyone on board," Carolina orders, Four-Seven-Niner stopping short when she notices something new amongst the group of Freelancers, breaking away from their circle and walking towards the ship._

_"Great," Wash mutters while North sounded more upbeat, South never saying a word._

_"Alright."_

_"Come on D," York tells the floating A.I. next to him, "Let's go."_

_"It's about time, let's get this mission goin'."_

_"Whoa whoa, hang on a minute. What is that thing?" Four-Seven-Niner asks suspiciously while pointing to Delta._

_"This is Delta, our new addition," York informs proudly._

_"Your new addition is pretty small."_

_"I said the same thing," Wash states as Indiana punches his shoulder._

_"Wash, give it a break!"_

_"Delta is a computer program," York continues, "He helps us figure stuff out; he's an A.I."_

_"Oh A.I., huh?" Four-Seven-Niner asks sarcastically, "What's the A stand for?"_

_"Artificial-!"_

_"I know what the fuck it stands for! What's it doing here? Is this like one of those robots that take people's jobs and puts them out of work?"_

_"I don't think so-!"_

_"What are you looking at I said put it over there, pay attention!" Four-Seven-Niner screams at the innocent worker over York's shoulder, the working groaning and moving the crate elsewhere._

_Carolina pokes her head out of the cargo doors of the dropship, "Hey guys, get a move on."  
_

_"Hang on a minute," Four-Seven-Niner addresses her before turning to Delta, "You, green guy. Do you know how to fly a plane?"_

_"No, I do not."_

_The female pilot is suddenly chill, "Oh, right, we're cool then. Everybody, on board," she steps aside for everyone to get on the plane, she catches the worker struggling with the crate and yells at him, "Not over there, over there- just quit screwin' around and put that thing back where you found it!"_

_The worker practically flings himself over the crate out of exhaustion, while the female pilot heads inside the ship, walking past everyone as they sit down. Wash and York on one side, North, Indiana, and South on the other. Carolina sits in her usual spot behind Four-Seven-Niner, while said pilot sits down at her controls, radioing in Command, "This is Four-Seven-Niner, we are wheels up and engines hot. Leave the light on for us, Command."  
_

_**"Roger that, Four-Seven-Niner, good luck,"**  a male voice came in through comms._

_"Thanks, Command, Four-Seven-Niner out," she hangs up, muttering under her breath, "Man, I would hate to have that guy's job." And the irony is everything so it would seem since that's the exact job she lands on after Project Freelancer went to shit. Four-Seven-Niner revs up the engine and takes off, flying far away from the Mother of Invention._

_It must have been a few hours of flying as the Freelancers grew a little restless, Wash was half asleep by the time Indiana chucked a pebble at his helmet. He startles awake and screams at her, only driving her to laugh and for York to pat Wash's shoulder playfully. Suddenly, the ship begins to sputter and York looks out towards the cockpit, "We parking?"_

_"Indeed we are," Four-Seven-Niner calls back, "The enemy base is right below us."_

_"How far below?" Wash asks._

_"Do you really wanna know?"_

_Washington shrinks back into his chair, "Probably not. Do I wanna know?"_

_"Seventy-five thousand feet."_

_Wash gulps, "Yeah, that's high."_

_"No wonder you guys need computer programs," Four-Seven-Niner mutters under her breath before calling back, "Yes, that's very high."_

_Delta appears in between York and Wash, "That is approximately fourteen point two miles."_

_"Thanks, D, you do not need to do that anymore," York advises._

_"Automatic conversion routines, offline."_

_Carolina jumps down from her perch, looking over the pilot's shoulder, "What's the plan?"_

_"Well, we know they're ready for us, I figure that they have defenses pointed in every direction. Except..."_

_"Except they're probably not looking straight up."_

_"They're probably not looking straight up."_

_"You thinking about a dive bomb?" Carolina asks as Wash appears in the doorway, but he spins right back around._

_"Oh, no."_

_"Sort of," Four-Seven-Niner half shrugs, "But if we did a dive bomb our engines would register on their thermals, let them know that we're coming. I'm thinking... something else."_

_Carolina hesitates for a moment before walking back to the bay, eyeing Wash specifically with a teasing voice, "Probably wanna tighten that harness."_

_"Ohhh, no," Wash squirms._

_The Freelancers activated the harness, Carolina swooping in to sit on the other side of Wash. North notices the way Indiana's hands tighten around the bars of the harness and her breath hitches quietly in her helmet. North nonchalantly reaches over to grab her hand, hiding the gesture between them and squeezing around her fingers comfortably. No one seems to notice so Indiana just squeezes right back, only a little more tightly._

_Four-Seven-Niner grips the controls, "Express elevator, goin' down!" She cuts the power, the engine suddenly bites the dust and the entire ship starts dropping out of the sky, everyone's stomachs suddenly floating up._

_"I think I'm gonna be sick!" Wash yells over the whipping winds._

_"You know these suits are supposed to eliminate all waste. You could probably throw up in your helmet and it would take care of it for you," Carolina teases._

_York pitches in with a laugh, "Yeah, you should test that, Wash."_

_"You two are assholes!"_

_"Actually York," Delta appears in front of York again, "We were never able to get the vomit disposal patch beyond Beta. Agent Washington would likely drown."_

_"Yikes. Way to kill the mood, D."_

_"Hey, York?" Four-Seven-Niner calls back there, "Send that little green guy up here."_

_"D, you heard her, front and center."_

_Delta disappears in front of York and pops up in front of the Pilot, "May I be of assistance?"_

_"Hey, buddy, I need you to tell me when I can fire the jets at the last possible second. You know, to avoid crashing."_

_"Please don't say crashing!" Wash yells from the back._

_"I understand," Delta acknowledges Four-Seven-Niner, "To prepare, I will need to calibrate for your reaction time."_

_"Fine, go ahead."_

_"When I say mark, you say sync. Mark--"_

_"Sync--"_

_"Mark--"_

_"Sync--"_

_"Calibration complete."_

_"Soo, we're good."_

_"I have a high degree of confidence, we will be able to complete this manoeuver," Delta pixellates for a moment, then returns to normal, but not before Four-Seven-Niner notices._

_"Wait a second, why did you just blink like that?"_

_"That was just a standard maintenance routine."_

_"Dude, did you just make a backup of yourself?"_

_"Confidence is one thing, but it is always prudent to prepare for failure."_

_She huffs sarcastically, "That's a dick move, green guy."_

_"I apologize if I have offende--"_

_"Dick. Move."_

_"Prepare to fire engines on my mark. Five... four... three..."_

_Indiana squeezes North's hand reassuringly one last time before letting go and the ship suddenly jolts up and everyone's rushing to get their harnesses off, grabbing their weapons as Four-Seven-Niner's screaming, "Everybody out!"_

_"Okay, go go go!"_

_"Why are we always jumping out of this thing?"_

_"Let's move people!"_

_"Yeah," Carolina replies to North as she braces against the wall, "Let's move."_

_She jumps up to the underside of the back of the dropship and propels herself down, everyone jumping out of the ship as the real challenge begins. Carolina front flips and lands gracefully onto the ground, knocking out a few men as she did so. The others land on their feet without all of that extra flare and begin firing, trying to use that small window with the element of surprise on their side as quick as possible before the Insurrection could blink and regain themselves. The enemy comes out with cars and machine guns, firing a cannon at them and causing the team to spread out._

_"South, stay behind me!" North yells over the gunfire, his sister doing as he said as they move behind a storage container, Wash and York across the opposite side of the yard doing to the same thing, "Go, go!"_

_"York, move up!" Wash instructs._

_"On it," York and Wash advance on the other side of the field, but York gets shot in the chest and goes flying into one of the storage containers, and Wash only has a split second to respond while cussing under his breath._

_"Fucking grenades," Wash charges forward, front rolling himself in the middle of a circle of jeeps and slams his hand down onto the ground, creating a burst of electricity from his EMP and disabling the vehicle weapons. South takes one jeep and shoots the drive and the one soldier using the gun before Wash moves forward with York, who had gotten up fairly quick._

_Indiana finds herself standing out in the open with a car speeding towards her head on. She shuffles her feet into the right position and bends her knees, arms out on either side of her for balance. She waits patiently before the right moment and just before the jeep could run her over, Indiana leaps up with all her might, flying over the car and dragging the driver out of his seat by her hand on the way down. She lands just behind the car with the driver now landing on his back in front of her, writhing in pain. She looks over her shoulder to watch the car crash into a wall behind her and blow up, the soldier in charge of the vehicle's weapons bursting into flames. Indiana turns back around and simply takes out her gun to shoot the driver before continuing forward._

_Carolina is hiding behind a shipping crate from above as Wash and York hide behind some cement barricades, "We've got to time this just right. Wait for my mark."_

_"Call it," York says._

_Soldiers start lining up while shooting with every bit of weaponry they could find. One of the captains who Carolina recognizes from an earlier mission grabs a sniper rifle and nearly shoots her in the head._

_"Woah," Carolina moves to the other side of the shipping crate guarding her, putting away her weapon and taking out a grenade, "Alright boys, me first."_

_She throws a grenade, but the Captain shoots it out of the air and Wash takes that as his cue, "Now!"_

_Wash and York step out and start shooting, then quickly retreat back to their hiding spot from vehicular fire, "No wait, not now, not now."_

_York groans, "Come on!"_

_Indiana tries coming to their rescue by taking out the warthog firing at them, but the gun just turns back around at her and she barely escapes by hiding behind a pillar, the gunman now just drilling his ammunition into the pillar to see if he can cut it down to size so he can get to the Freelancer behind it._

_"Dammit!" Carolina yells from another close call by the sniper, patching into comms, "North, we're pinned down, I need you to take them out."_

_"Can't get a line of sight on the target from here," North informs her from where he and his sister are hiding behind another car, South yelling as she gets grazed, "But I might have a way to contain them."_

_"Just do it!"_

_"Theta," North calls._

_Theta jumps into the air as he appears, "Ready!"_

_"Putting up a hail mary. I need you to guide it."_

_"Okay."_

_North and South stand up, his sister covering for him as he backs away and pulls out a small artifact and winds back his arm, "They say the best offense, is a good **defense!** "_

_He throws the canister, watching it as it flies high up into the air and landing down behind the line of soldiers, the captain being the first to notice._

_"What the--" A bubble shield goes up around five of the men with the heavy artillery, locking them in, "Hold your fire people. Stand down."_

_One of the idiotic soldiers just huffs confidently while aiming his gun at the shield, "Hm. I got this."_

_"No, wait-!"_

_The soldier fires and the bullet bounces back into his own head. As he falls down, he pulls the trigger, and bullets fly everywhere and kill everyone inside, painting every inch of the bubble shield with blood. When the shield falls, so does the captain as Carolina observes from her perch across the way._

_**"Did I get 'em?"**  North's force comes in through comms._

_"Yeah North," Carolina responds amusingly, "You got 'em."_

_"Ah, **brutal** ," Indiana comments as she pokes her head out from behind the pillar, regretting that decision instantly as the gunman still alive on top of the car continues to fire and happens to nick her arm, "Shit!"_

_"Thanks for the help, Theta," North tells his floating A.I._

_"You are welcome."_

_North turns to comms as Theta disappears, "Okay, we're moving. York, you guys can handle this from here, right?"_

_York patches through from where he and Wash are hiding, with gunfire still going on behind them, "Handle it? Sure! I mean, I nearly got blown up a minute ago, and now I'm paired with the squad's second-worst fighter. But sure, we can handle it."_

**_"Great. North out."_ **

_"You really think I'm the second-worst fighter?" Wash asks York._

_"No, I was being nice. You're easily the worst."_

_York should probably put his foot where his mouth is as he is the first to get punched the fuck out of by a sleeveless, definitely ripped soldier who had been able to just walk up into their hiding spot behind them._

_"You were saying?" Wash teases York before remembering that the ripped soldier was still there, "...Yeah, oh."_

_The guy punches Wash down to the ground, York stumbling slightly as he's just starting to stand. Once Wash gets up, the two face the ripped soldier head on, only to panic when he holds up a grenade launcher. He fires and the force of the explosion send both York and Wash back, the ladder able to fire one bullet that just happens to knock the grenade launcher out of the ripped soldier's hand._

_Indiana is still unable to step out from her hiding place, clutching her arm as the pillar is almost depleted from the gunfire, the structure above her ready to crash down on her, "Hey, guys! A little help here?!"_

_The car, as if hearing the commotion of an explosion behind it, turns around and leaves Indiana alone, giving her time to run for better cover. The jeep now, however, sees Wash and is charging straight towards him._

_"Uh, oh. **CAR**!"  
_

_"Dammit!" York curses as he watches Wash run away with a jeep right behind him, but turns around just in time as the ripped soldier kicks at his face but misses when he pulls back, only able to kick York's gun out of his hand, "Shotgun!"_

_York grunts as the ripped soldier tackles him to the ground but immediately takes cover when Carolina shoots at him with a plasma gun from above. She misses, then sees the car turning and catching up to Wash quickly, "Oh, fuck. No, you don't."_

_She jumps down from her ledge and kicks the gunner out of the car, firing at him, but then a car blocks her view from him and the driver of the car just happens to be the Captain from the roof in one of her previous missions. He raises his now robotic arm that happens to be holding a gun, pointing it at her, "Sup bitch, it's payback time."_

_Carolina dodges out of the way of his gunfire and takes off, York getting up and doing hand to hand combat with one of the other fighters. He kicks him away and fights another soldier head on, picking up a gun and aiming, but the soldier ducks and a car fishtails into York, knocking him backward._

_York groans as he lays there on his back, "Oh, my head."_

_Wash is hiding behind another shipping crate, ready to get some actual action going, "Okay. Time to fight fire, **with**  fire."_

_He tosses a canister out into the field of battle, and as it turns out, it's another transmitter, Wash dialing in something on his armor. As the Insurrection captains run away from it, a large container, which had fallen from the sky, lands on top of the transmitter. When it opens, the container reveals Maine, Sigma appearing over his shoulder._

_"Agent Maine, isn't that the soldier from the freeway, the one that shot you in the throat?"  
_

_Maine growls in response, and the A.I. feels smug about it, "I thought so. Sick 'im."_


	19. Fighting Fire

_As chaos ensues, York joins Wash just behind a shipping container while Maine does all the work for them. Sigma appears in front of them, "Hello, gentlemen."_

_"Hey,_ _Sig_ _," York greets, "You sure he's good to fight so soon? He was hurt pretty bad."_

_"As compared to whom, Agent York? You two don't look so good yourselves."_

_Delta appears and Sigma greets him, "Hello, brother."_

_"Sigma. Protocol dictates that A.I. units are not to communicate directly with each_ _oth_ _\--"_

_"Protocol is just another way of saying 'rules,' Delta. Remember what the Director says: there are no rules on the battlefield," Sigma disappears and reappears behind Delta, putting his nonexistent hand on his brother's nonexistent shoulder, "Besides, we A.I. should really stick together. Excuse me, I'll be right back."_

_Once Sigma disappears to help Maine, York turns to Wash, "I'll be honest, that one kinda gives me the creeps."_

_"Yeah, I hear ya," Wash agrees as Delta disappears, "Come on, let's move."_

_Blondie, one of the female Insurrection soldiers, groans in pain after having a car being thrown at her. She pushes herself to roll over, coming face to face with Carolina's plasma rifle._

_"Well, hello. What a pleasure to see you again."_

_The soldier with the robotic arm, however, comes out of nowhere and kicks her, breaking one of her guns. She levels the other gun at him, but a knife is thrown into it, breaking that one as well. Carolina turns to see Blondie draw out more knives while pursuing her._

_"_ _Pleasure's_ _all mine, bitch."_

_A fight ensues between Carolina against Blondie and RoboCop, meanwhile, the ripped soldier shakes his head after being knocked out and looks up, recognizing Maine as the mute Freelancer cracks his knuckles and neck. John Cena stands up and goes to take a punch, only for Maine to catch it in his own fist. Maine starts twisting John Cena's wrist painfully, driving him to kneel in order to follow his arm and keep it from breaking, which was already happening as he could hear bones cracking under Maine's grip. Once John Cena was kneeling in front of him, Maine brings up his other hand and literally punches the guy's helmet off his head, seemingly killing him at such a powerful impact. Looking around, Maine looks up and sees Carolina still fighting off her opponents and runs to help her._

_Carolina now only has her taser staff and tries jabbing RoboCop and Blondie with it. When Maine finally arrives, he takes on RoboCop, who uses his metal arm as an advantage, tripping Maine and throwing him towards Carolina. When Blondie ducks away from her, Carolina gets the full impact of Maine and the two fall to the ground. Carolina immediately gets back up and into the fight, Maine doing a barrel roll to grab his_ _knifle_ _. He shoots a grenade at RoboCop, but the cyborg catches it in his robot arm and flings it back, blowing it up in Maine's face. But Maine survives and tosses his_ _knifle_ _at RoboCop, slicing off his robot arm. Maine charges forward and tackles RoboCop to the ledge of the dock, floating over the ocean. Maine then grabs his_ _knifle_ _and fires off rapidly, the grenades finally being too much and flinging RoboCop into the water._

_Meanwhile, Carolina continues to fight Blondie until she knocks her helmet off and over the ledge. Blondie looks up to see a robot arm and takes it, assuming her partner was helping her up._

_"Thanks--" Blondie immediately takes it back as she realized it was Maine holding up the robotic arm, "Fuck."_

_Maine drops the arm and it and Blondie fall to their deaths, Blondie hitting her spine on the ledge before falling into the water to seemingly drown._

_Indiana moves from out of her hiding place, having already bandaged her arm and rolling it slowly to kink out the soreness, "Walk in the park," she mutters as she joins up with Carolina._

_"Indi, with me."_

_"Got it. Make sure North behaves himself, Theta."_

_"Okay!" Theta waves over North's shoulder as the two female Freelancers disappear inside the compound._

~~~~~~~~~

_Wyoming looks up from hiding behind a pillar while being rained on by portable Gatling guns two crazy looking soldiers were holding just in time to see Wash and York join him, "Well, about time."_

_"Hey, Wyoming, we miss all the fun?" York asks over the gunfire while noticing Agent Florida lying on the ground with an ax stuck in his chest piece._

_"Hardly chaps, now where is our dear Carolina?"_

_Carolina and Indiana run past to the next pillar, barely making it as the Gatling guns tear down the spot where they appeared._

_"Ah, yes. Hello, ladies."_

_"Wyoming,_ **_move up_ ** _," Carolina orders._

_"With all due respect, I prefer_ **_not_ ** _to be killed, if at all possible."_

_"York, got any ideas?" Carolina turns to York._

_"I don't know, have we got any nukes?"_

_"You mean besides the one I'm gonna drop on Wyoming if he doesn't move,_ **_the hell, up_ ** _."_

_"Yes, I can see everything just fine from back here, thank you," Wyoming promises._

_"What's the matter, Wyoming?" Indiana yells over the gunfire with a grin in her voice, "Scared of trigger-happy Thing One and Two?"_

_"We need to get in that bunker. That's where C.T. and their leader are holed up," Carolina informs._

_"How're we gonna get through all of this?" Wash asks._

_"So far, we're not," Wyoming notes._

_York turns to Wash, "Maybe Wyoming should try one of his knock-knock jokes."_

_"Wah- who's there?"_

_"Nobody, stop," York groans._

_"Nobody stop who? Should I go on?"_

_"Yeah, I was kidding, now shut up."_

_"Shut up who?"_

_"Both of you shut up," Carolina snaps, "Okay, here's what we're going to do. Wash you establish a line on that side, Indiana on the other, York and Wyoming you--"_

_Something runs past them and as the camouflage shield flickers around the armor, it's revealed to be Agent Texas. Tex approaches the gunners, the smiley and frowny-faced soldiers unable to track her movements and so she was able to get past them and run into the bunker._

_"Dammit, no!" Carolina yells, "Cover me," she orders as she runs after Tex._

_"Cover me, that's the plan?" York yells back as Wash runs to the opposite sides of the pillars and aims his rifle._

_"_ **_Open fire!_ ** _"_

_York and Wash step out and fire at the gunmen, as Carolina runs up and jumps past them, earning a shot to the possible leg and yelling out in pain. She stumbles a little but gets back up, pursuing Tex and forgetting the objective._

_"Carolina,_ **_dammit_ ** _!" York yells as he and Wash take cover again._

_"Man, she_ **_really_ ** _wants to win," Wash observes._

_"Yep. But it's not them she's fighting against."_

_"I can go in after her if you can watch my back," Indiana informs them, loading her gun and nodding to York._

_"Sure. Are you gonna back her up?"_

_"I'm more likely just going to be keeping her and Texas from killing each other."_

_York pauses, "Probably a good idea you go instead of me then. Good luck!"_

_He and Wash step out again and fire at Thing One and Two, Indiana using this as her distraction and breaks into a sprint, jumping over the gunmen and flipping over to catch herself before disappearing into the bunker._

~~~~~~~~~

Washington leads Carolina and Ghost through the desert, coming across a familiar helmet, "Here. I have no idea how she got here."

"That's because  _she_  didn't," Carolina states when she approached the helmet.

"Okay..." Ghost trails off as she points her gun at none other than  _C.T.'s_  helmet, "Then who is  _this_?

"Is that who I think it is?" Wash asks, "If what you're saying is true, how could this have happened?"

~~~~~~~~~

_Tex looks up from her crouch next to the door to see Carolina right behind her. Both have their guns out and both kneel in front of the door, hearing C.T.'s voice from inside, "Quiet. That room is guarded by turrets."_

_"I can get past them," Carolina whispers._

_"If there was a way to do it, I would have already done it," Tex hissed._

_"York, I need you to cut the power on the main complex," Carolina patches in through comms._

_Meanwhile, York, Wash, and Wyoming are still under heavy fire in the other room._

_York jumps back after having fired off his weapon again, "I'm a little busy out here."_

_**"Just do it."** _

_"I'll see what I can do. Sounds like a good excuse to get out of this firefight."_

_Further down the hallway, Wyoming noticed Florida slowly standing back up, "Good show, mate. That's the spirit. Still a bit of fight in you."_

_Agent Florida stands up and removes the ax from his right shoulder with some fury behind it. He looks at it thoughtfully and throws it with his left hand, the ax not getting very far as it skids to a stop just shy of the gunmen, who stop briefly to look at each other then they continue to fire._

_York huffs, "So much for that plan."_

_"What now?" Wash asks._

_Florida takes his gun and hides behind the pillars like the rest of them, looking around to figure out a solution. He sees a giant crane arm contraption moving around to organize storage units. He hatches a plan and shoots out the giant crane, causing it to go haywire and knock the gunmen off to a lower level. The crate it held at the time suddenly falls as well and drops on top of them, splattering yellow everywhere instead of red._

_"Hah! I don't believe it!" York states in disbelief, patching into Carolina's frequency, "We're all clear Carolina, we'll be dark in less than sixty."_

_"Roger that," Carolina responds as she stands up to address Tex, "Don't forget our objective, we're just here to retrieve the armor."_

_"Carolina, I know what the fucking objective is," Tex snaps when she stands up as well._

_There's a rush of air and the two women point their guns in the same direction from right behind them, only to lower weapons right away when they recognize the green and gray armor. Indiana looks between the two of them and walks up to the door casually._

_"Huh. Glad you two didn't rush into the fun without me."_

_"What are you doing here?" Carolina growls._

_"From what we know, C.T. and the leader of the Resistance is inside, but we don't know who else. It might be better if it were three against two anyway. No matter how good the three of us are at being badasses, it wouldn't hurt to have an advantage."_

_Inside the bunker, the power goes out and the three female Freelancers could hear an argument brewing inside._

_"Dammit!"_

_"We need to go."_

_"I already told you, I can't leave them."_

_"Most of them are already dead. Besides if we leave they have no reason to be here. Please let's just go while we still can."_

_"Connie, come on."_

_"You promised me. You said we would be together. I have all the information we need, I have my armor. We can take this to the right people and they'll--"_

_"They'll_ **_what_ ** _, Connie?"_

_"I don't know, make a deal with us; keep us out of prison._ **_They'll help us_ ** _. Come on, we don't have much time."_

_"Actually," Carolina and the other two females step into the room as soon as the doors open, pointing all of their guns at the supposed traitor and the Leader, "You don't have any time."_

_"Carolina!" C.T. backs away, voice suddenly lowering at the sight of Tex and Indi, "And, you two."_

_**"Hey, Carolina, the power's off."** _

_"We noticed," Carolina tells York._

_**"What, no thank you? This was complicated--"** _

_**"Actually, I did most of the work, Agent York."** _

_**"Give it a rest, D."** _

_Tex speaks up next, "C.T., you have something that belongs to Project Freelancer. And you know how the Director hates to share."_

_"You three are fools," Connie snaps, "The Director is playing you, don't you see it?"_

_Indiana's gun hand hesitates, "What do you mean_ **_playing_ ** _us--"_

_"C.T. stop it," Carolina interrupts, not wanting to hear it, "We know you've been feeding intel to the Resistance for months._

_The Leader laughs, "Is that who he told you we are?"_

_"They're not the enemy Carolina," C.T. tries explaining, "We're the ones working outside the rules, not them. You don't know what the Director has done, he's broken major laws; when this war ends, we're_ **_all_ ** _gonna have to pay for his crimes. Maybe some of us are already paying for them."_

_"You need to stop talking, C.T.," Tex growls._

_"No. I know what you are, Tex," C.T. points an accusing finger at her, "And I won't take orders from a shadow."_

_"What did you just call me?"_

_"Connie, come on," Indi tries reasoning with her friend, "This doesn't look good for you no matter the outcome. So just take the easy route and come with us--"_

_"Don't Indi! If you knew what I know, you wouldn't want to go back either..." C.T.'s voice softens slightly, "I'm almost sorry the Director never told you anything."_

_Indiana finally puts her gun down, "Told me_ **_what_ ** _?"_

_"What really happened to you."_

_Indiana's body reacted as if she has just been pushed, her mind going blank, "...What?"_

_"You're coming with us C.T. This is your last chance," Carolina warns her._

_"No, I'm not going anywhere with you."_

_"Actually, we don't need you," Tex explains slyly, "We just need your armor."_

_Tex fires at C.T., and she bends back Matrix-style to dodge the bullet, the Leader screaming out and grabbing his ax._

_"No!"_

_A fight ensues, during which C.T. runs up behind Tex and stabs her in the back. Tex falls to her knees and the Leader barrels an ax into her chest, before throwing another one towards Carolina, but misses when Carolina hides behind a crate. Indiana shakes herself out of her initial shock and pursues the Leader along with Tex, meanwhile, Carolina barely takes a breath before C.T. attacks her with a knife. She manages to disarm Carolina from her gun, forcing her to draw her taser staff, getting into a different kind of sword fight with the traitorous Freelancer. The pair are fighting right next to Tex and Indiana as they corner the Leader, the male somehow figuring out a weak spot and punching Indiana's injured shoulder, driving her to fall back a little and have Tex handle the rest. The fight continues on, every once in a while, they switch enemy fighters and eventually, Tex knocks the Leader down, helping Carolina out with C.T. by grabbing one of the Leader's axes and shoving it into C.T.'s stomach, pushing her to fall next to the Leader, groaning._

_"NO!" Indiana screams._

_Carolina pulls Tex back forcefully, "What the hell are you doing?"_

_"Completing our objective," Tex snaps._

_"By killing a teammate?"_

_"She's not a teammate. She's a traitor."_

_"But bringing her to justice is a lot easier to put on paper than killing her!" Indiana argues._

_While the three women bicker, the Leader helps C.T. through a door that locks behind them and the others only notice until it was too late._

_"Dammit!" Tex screams before turning on the others, "That's on you! Both of you. I guess you can explain how we lost a full suit of armor and failed to capture the leader of the Resistance. Command, we need extraction, now," she says through comms._

**_"I got 'em Command,"_ ** _Four-Seven-_ _Niner's_ _voice patches through,_ **_"Read you loud and clear Texas, clear me in L Z and get ready for pickup."_ **

_Carolina exchanges a look with Indiana as the ladder held her injured shoulder before watching Tex walk away, "I don't know what's gotten into you Texas, but you'd better figure out the difference between your enemies, and your friends."_

_Carolina looks back at Indiana when she had bent down to pick up C.T.'s knife, "You good?"_

_Indiana looks up from examining the knife, her face hidden from the helmet but the silence she gives Carolina is enough for the turquoise armored soldier to know that she wasn't. Physically, maybe. What did C.T. mean when she told Indiana the Director was hiding something from her? Indiana just shakes out of her thoughts and follows Carolina out, Carolina limping slightly and Indiana holding her shoulder, her free hand holding the knife. When they walk back out into the hallway, they're met with York, Wash, Wyoming, and even Florida, but Tex was walking off, not willing to wait for them._

_"Indi!"_

_"Carolina!"_

_Wash and York run over to them, Wash noticing the knife in_ _Indi's_ _hand right away before York could even ask what happened. Wash froze, looking nowhere else but at the knife and Indiana cursed to herself for not putting it away. Once she's hidden it from Wash's view, he looks up at her with hesitation, "Is she...?"_

_York looks between Indi and Wash before turning to Carolina, "What happened?"_

_"There's no way she could have survived her wounds. She's gone," is all Carolina states before walking out, York at her side._

_Wash doesn't break his gaze from Indiana before she sighs and motions him to follow her, the two of them walking in silence until they make it outside. Wash couldn't talk for a moment, driven speechless until he goes to pat Indiana's shoulder and she flinches, "Are you okay?"_

_"I'm fine, Wash," Indi half smiles under her helmet, gripping her shoulder less and less as the pelican_ _dropship_ _flies overhead. The two head towards the landing strip, Wash now keeping a wary eye on Indiana until Maine, North, and South come into view. They had watched the Leader's escape ship take off from a secret hangar below the ocean and feared the worst, now sighing in relief when they see their teammates emerge from the compound._

_When Indiana and Wash walk up to North, he looks as though he wants to say something, but the other two wouldn't meet his gaze and he decides not to push it, "Did you get hit?" was all he asks Indi, trying and failing to hide the concern in his voice._

_"It's just a graze, nothing serious," she responds quietly as the_ _dropship_ _lands in front of everyone, the rear door opening for them, "Let's go home."_


	20. Out of Body

Back at the Ancient Alien Archives, Church doesn't know how much longer he could take having Caboose repeatedly run through his transparent body, "Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Stop--"

They hear Sarge clear his throat and call them from over by their car, "Attention Blue Team! We would like to propose a temporary truce, so that we may discuss our current situation. Do you accept?"

"I don't get it," Church tells Tucker and Caboose, "Does he still think we're fighting or something?"

"Maybe it's a trap," Caboose warns.

"I doubt they're smart enough to think of that. But then again neither are you," Tucker comments.

"How do you know that? Are you in with them?"

Church clears his throat, "Yes! We accept!"

The Reds approach and stand in front of the Blues, Tucker being the first to speak, "So what's up?"

"It's our mutual friend/enemy/companion. Or 'friendenemapanion' for short," Sarge explains.

"We're all starting to get a little concerned about Carolina," Simmons continues. 

"Really," Tucker deadpans, "Did these concerns start before or after she left us to die in the desert?"

"Dude, not now, the heat is killing me!" Grif snaps.

Simmons turns to him, "Doesn't your helmet have cooling fans?"

"Yeah, but I sweat so much they short-circuited."

"Jeez, we haven't even been in the desert that long."

"The  _desert?_ These things broke during basic training."

"Yeah, I'm sorry, I don't see how any of this applies to the trap," Caboose mentions.

"Guys, look, we need to focus," Church cuts in, "Now, I realize that's asking a lot of you, especially since we're all a little uneasy around Carolina."

"No, 'uneasy' is sitting next to a homeless dude on the bus," Grif explains.

Simmons agrees, "Yeah, we've got a trigger-happy psychopath."

"It's like she's some sort of half-woman-half-shark. Except for the shark-half has been given cybernetic powers. And the woman half is also one-quarter jaguar," Sarge shivers.

"Okay okay okay, we're all terrified of the scary Freelancer lady. That's why we need to stick to _gether_. It's just  _us_  against  _them_."

"Them?" Tucker repeats when turning to Church.

"We can't trust Wash and Ghost. At least not as long as Carolina's around."

"Dude, that's totally messed up!" Tucker snaps, "Ghost hates Carolina as much as we do, maybe even more. You can't just keep her in the dark like that."

"Oh, yeah?" Church challenges, "Like how she's keeping us in the dark about what we're doing out here?"

"This is wrong, man."

Everyone looks at each other uneasily, even the Reds didn't feel so comfortable not trusting Ghost, despite her being a Blue. And Wash, too, since he has been protective of them since Carolina came around.

"Alright, then tooth fairy, what's the plan?" Sarge asks.

"We need to figure out exactly what Carolina is up to, and why she isn't telling us anything."

"Okay, I'll go ask her," Caboose volunteers, "O-aid aah, yeah, I promise not to bring up the trap."

"No, Caboose, look just... don't."

"Okay, fine. What would you like me to ask her?"

"You can go ask her if she has the hots for me," Tucker suggests, "I think I might have felt an emotional connection the last time she hit me."

"Tell her you'd like to make an emotional hot connection with her trap. Got it."

"Oh-ho, that's even better!"

"Okay, A, please stop saying the word trap. And B, you're an idiot," Church growls.

"Okay, how 'bout ambush?"

"Guys, I'm serious, we need something subtle; a way we can get close to her  _without_  her knowing."

Simmons hums, deep in thought before turning to a specific Blue, "Hey, Caboose, you were the one who put Epsilon in that floating alien ball thing, right?"

"Hover Church can also solve crimes."

"Well, how would you feel about putting him in something a little... different."

He motions to something and they all turn to see Carolina's ATV ride, and Church is not happy, "Oh, fuck you guys."

"You are gonna solve so many crimes!" Caboose cheers. 

~~~~~~~~~

"So, uh, how do you feel?"

Church turns on the engine to his new body, headlights flaring to life, "I feel like running over each and every one of you."

"So pretty much the same as before."

"Yeah. Pretty much."

"You know Simmons," Grif looks over at his teammate, "I think I'm gonna let you call shotgun on this one."

"Fuuuuck that."

"Man, this sucks," Church complains as he appears again over the ATV.

"What're you complaining about, you finally got your own body," Tucker explains.

"My own body-- Tucker I'm a fucking Tonka Truck!"

"Okay, yeah, but, you could  _literally_  pick up chicks with this thing."

"Oh yeah, because every girl just dreams about settling down with Optimus Prime--  **HONK!** " Church and Tucker grow silent, Church's figure turning slowly to the Blue who put him in this body in the first place, "...Caboose, don't do that."

"Sorry."

"Alright places people, here they come," Sarge approached.

"Don't forget to shout surprise," Caboose says.

Tucker groans, "Caboose, shut up."

Carolina, Wash, and Ghost finally come back and Carolina turns to the soldier with matching armor, "Tucker, bring Epsilon over here. I've got some questions for him."

"Goddammit," Tucker whines, wondering how he got into this mess while following the Freelancers to the huge vehicle he remembered driving one time. 

"Any luck?" Carolina asks as she watched Wash try to hotwire the dead computer inside the vehicle.

"I think so," he trails off for a moment and then switched it on, seeing Project Freelancer's symbol pop up, then the screen turns to a picture of a familiar artifact Ghost recognized as one of Church's bodies, but chooses not to say anything.

"Alright, datapad accepted. Looks like we're in business," Wash tells Carolina.

"So, uh, what do you need Church for?" Tucker asks when he approaches.

"I just told you," Carolina said with the patience in her voice wearing thin.

"Oh. Yeah. But, I mean, you could talk to  _me_  instead. Sup girl?"

"Why on Earth, would I ever want to do that?"

"Well you know, we're a perfect match. We're both super good looking badass rebel loners, and we've got the same color armor. Greenish blue."

When that doesn't get a response out of Carolina, Tucker stutters and continues, "Uh, aquamarine. Turquoise? Hey, what the fuck color is this anyway?"

Ghost huffed amusingly while leaning against the vehicle, hidden in the shade, "It took you HOW many years to ask yourself that question?"

Washington addresses Tucker, "Listen, it's important that we figure out what's on C.T.'s datapad. It might be our next clue to finding the Director."

Tucker looks up at the screen, seeing the artifact that Ghost recognized earlier, "Hey, I know that thing."

"Wait,  _you_  recognize this artifact?" Wash asks, stunned.

"Hell yeah, it was the biggest pain in the ass," Tucker comments as Caboose walks up behind him, also looking at the screen.

"Ah, it's Church. You know he has lost a lot of weight."

"What?" Carolina questions.

"Oh, yeah. Caboose transferred Epsilon from a memory unit into that thing a long time ago," Tucker informs her.

Ghost scoffs, thinking back to those times, "I loved kicking that floating soccer ball around."

Wash turns to her, "Wait, you  _saw_  this thing, too?"

Carolina growls, again, "Why didn't you  _say_  anything."

Ghost grins underneath her helmet, "Because I love watching you suffer... Plus, I didn't want to."

Tucker looks at her with a tilted helmet, "Huh. Grif would be proud."

"Where is it now?" Carolina asks.

"I don't know, who cares?"

Carolina's patience comes back just enough, "I do."

"Oh. Well in that case, uh Caboose tell her where it is."

"Right, yes, okay right, yes. I will do that. Yes. Right now."

In the background, the Reds are just far enough away to overhear the conversation as Grif comments, "Well Sarge, you've always wanted to watch a Blue die. Looks like you're gonna get your wish after all."

"Actually Grif, it's always been my wish to watch  _you_  die."

"Oh right, yeah."

"Yep. Every night after you boys would retire to your bunks, I would climb up to the top of the base, and just wait, hoping I would see a shooting star so that I could wish for your violent, and unbearably painful demise."

"Okay, you can stop now."

"I even had a little jingle to go along with it."

"Please don't."

Sarge begins to sing a tune that sounds like 'When You Wish Upon a Star' but with different words, and totally off key, "I just wish that Grif was dead."

"I hate you."

"Put a bullet--"

"-through his head," Simmons finishes the phrase out of nowhere.

"What the- Simmons, how do you know that song?" Grif spins to him, voice stitched with betrayal.

"Ugh, it's been in my dreams for  _years_. Now it all makes sense! Oh, thank God."

" **What?** "

"I thought I was crazy when I woke up with that rifle in my hands."

Sarge chuckles maniacally, "Well, ain't that the power of music."

"Simmons, why didn't you tell me about this!?" Grif startles because we all know they always share a room, whether you ship them or not. And in this case, I do. So, you know, as Simmons would say: suck it, hater.

"Oh, shut up, it wasn't even loaded."

Back to the Blues, Carolina is ripping them a new one when she learns the truth about where Caboose left Church's last body, "How can you just leave, an ancient alien artifact, on the floor  **of a warehouse**?!"

"Okay, ya-hold on, I mean to be fair, you know, we had already broken it," Caboose states before Ghost nudges him to shut up.

**Data Corrupted / End of file / Error code 32165206.35**

Wash sees the flashing words and numbers on the screen as the hard drive crashes, "Uh oh, that's not right."

"Oh, I can't be _lieve_  we came all this way for nothing," Carolina seethes, storming off as Wash turns to the Blues.

"You guys are not making my life easy right now."

"Do we ever?" Tucker asks rhetorically.

"Good point. But  _you_ ," Wash turns to glare at Ghost, "Are doing this on purpose."

Ghost shrugs, "Actually, this should be making your decision on whose side you're on a lot easier for you, Wash."

"I prefer the side that YOU aren't on."

Ghost's head lowers as Wash storms off, the words stung just a little, but she tried not to show it. Tucker looks between where Wash took off and then turns back to Ghost, "Hey, what happened between you two?"

Ghost looks up at Tucker and then towards where Wash disappeared to, sighing, "When Project Freelancer went to shit, Wash was one of the only Freelancers to stay behind while the rest of us took off... He blames me because we abandoned him."

Washington feels guilt starting to weigh him down walking behind Carolina, trying to shake off the familiar feeling as he addresses the aqua Freelancer, "So, what's the plan now?"

"There's an island nearby that I wanna visit. Shouldn't take more than a day or so."

Wash sputters, "That old fortress? Carolina, I'm not sure there's a--"

"Wash, trust me on this," Carolina's voice sounds different compared to the times she was giving orders all day. It was softer; sadder.

Wash looks elsewhere, "Right. You should probably listen to your instincts."

Carolina walks past him, "You stay here and keep the sim troopers from causing any trouble. I won't be gone long."

Before he could blink, Wash is watching Carolina ride away into the desert on top of her ATV ride. He turns back towards the rest of the team and tries huddling them up, "Alright, everyone, move into the temple, it'll be getting dark soon."

"Hey, Wash, where exactly is she going?" Tucker asks.

"She lost something. I think she just needs some time to try and find it again."


	21. Out of Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is easily one of my most favorite chapters, so I hope you enjoy! :)

_Silence is rare aboard the Mother of Invention. Even at night, -well night for them since it's always night in space- the hallways are busy with people at work, soldiers at large, scientists going to the mess wall for another coffee to keep them awake for their studies._

_For most Freelancers, sleep is required by the Counsellor and Delta -but mostly Delta- because of the heavy equipment and artillery they use in the battlefield. Clearly, SOME of those Freelancers didn't take the hint, but for those who did and always turn in for six to seven hours, their rest doesn't last very long because of how busy the large ship is 24/7._

_But tonight, as mentioned earlier, was silent, and silence is rare aboard the Mother of Invention. Some Freelancers took this as the perfect opportunity to rest, those few being North Dakota and Indiana amongst them._

_It was hardly past midnight according to their Earth time frame, and North couldn't sleep on this rare occasion of the ship being silent. He tossed and turned, but the constant buzzing in his head almost made him nauseous._

_But not that he would say that out loud. He wouldn't dare make a single complaint if it meant making his A.I. feel guilty. Speaking of whom, North finally sits up and activates said A.I._

_"Theta? Are you okay? Can't power down?" He hums softly._

_"N-No," the small pink and purple hologram resembling Theta appeared on North's outstretched hand towards the cool dark atmosphere, "It's fine, North... I'll be okay. I'm sorry I woke you."_

_"No, don't apologize. I couldn't sleep anyways," North lied for the sake of cheering the little guy up, "How about you and I go walk through the halls for a little bit, maybe grab some coffee. I bet in a couple of hours you'll wind back down."_

_"O-Okay. Thanks, North." And just like that, Theta's holographic form disappears, but his presence still lingers in the back of North's mind, where his implants hummed softly._

_North pulls the covers back to kick out his legs and feels the cool cement beneath his feet. He finds a pair of socks in the drawer next to his bed and pulls out the shoes hidden underneath. Throwing them on, he then tries getting up as quietly as possible, until he hears the bedsheets rustle slowly as if they were stirring awake themselves._

_"Theta can't sleep again?"_

_North turns around to see Indiana had flipped over onto her other side to face him, her face half smudged into her pillow while one of her arms reached out to feel the warmth North left behind on his side of the bed. She smiles sleepily, half aware of her surroundings while her other hand tried to bury herself back in the covers._

_"Nope, not really. He should be fine after an hour of wandering. I won't be long."_

_"Don't worry about it. Have him play one of those lullabies I taught him. It might help," she hummed into her pillow, already half asleep again._

_"I'll do that," North watches her exhausted appearance with a soft smile on his lips before he bent down to help her get tucked back into the bed sheets. He tries not to linger over the bandage tightly wrapped around her shoulder but does a quick check to see if any blood was seeping through. It was just a graze with barely any blood to show for it, but it always eased North's mind to check. Their last mission was pretty rough on everyone, but it seemed to hit harder with Wash and Indi the most. They lost a friend, after all, and a friend who no one else seems to miss because of her betrayal. North hates it, but Indi and Wash had to grieve on their own, without any form of therapy because no one wants to waste their time talking about C.T. Of course, North himself tried being with the two mourning Freelancers, but professional help will always triumph over a shoulder to cry on, even if it **is**  North's shoulder. Once Indiana was settled more comfortably into the sheets, North moves some strands of her short hair out of the way while planting a gentle kiss on her forehead, a gesture she could barely feel before being pulled back into her dreams._

_"...I expect cuddles," she yawns, "When you come back," then she was out like a light._

_North resists laughing in fear of waking her again before he leaves the room, thinking back to Indiana's suggestion, "Theta, why don't you play that song Indi taught you?"_

_Without any questions, Theta rummages around in North's brain before playing the said tune, which was just a recording of Indiana's voice, singing the soft lullaby from when Theta first couldn't sleep._

_**Theta, my angel, sent down to me from heaven above**   
**I look into your eyes and my heart beings to melt**   
**The greatest treasure on Earth is this love I have never felt**   
_ **_Until you... beautiful child_ **

_It wasn't the exact or even the full lyrics, but it was the only words from the song Indiana could remember. She had once admitted to North that her mother used to sing that lullaby to her, but instead used her own name and not Theta's obviously. Indi spoke sadly of her mother, and North didn't dare push her into telling him about her parents, but Indiana softly admitted to not remembering much about her family. She was too little the last time her mother sang to her and that for the longest of time it had just been her and her older brother. Indi always mentions her brother, but never says a name or his current whereabouts. She'll talk about the past, but never the present as North has noticed._

_Theta keeps replaying the tune of Indi's voice, which is a decent sound when it comes to singing. She isn't the greatest, but she isn't terrible. The song is soft enough for her singing to be considered a whisper. North hums a little to the lullaby while walking down the hallways to the mess hall. After having a cup of coffee, North goes and checks on some of his equipment, cleaning off the weapons and widdling a knife he intends to give to Indiana. She's lost a few of her knives and tries replacing them by taking from any fallen soldiers she might have killed. It's a bit barbaric, but North can understand that it's hard to keep track of any kind of weapon you might have to throw at someone in order to defend yourself._

_North then heads towards the observation deck in the training room, wanting to find some paper and a clipboard to bring back to his room so he can just write down his mission report from the comforts of his bed. When he gets there, he noticed that the training floor was in use and that the observation room lights were on. After finding a clipboard, he heads up to see who was still awake on such a quiet night. Sure enough, he finds York, sitting in his pajamas while drinking a cup of coffee. Out in the training room was none other than Carolina._

_York yawns as North approaches, barely flinching when North mentions Carolina, "Still training at this hour."_

_"Yeah. She's been like this since we got back from the last mission."_

_"You gotta be kidding me, she's **always**  been like this," North huffed while walking past York and looking down at his clipboard._

_"Well, yeah, I mean, she never did know when to stop. But now it's like she doesn't know **how**  to stop.  **Always**  training. I guess the leaderboard beckons."_

_York says this while North is studying the leaderboard for himself. It was now completely out of order from when things were normal around here. From top to bottom, it read Texas, Carolina, Indiana, York, Wyoming, North Dakota, Washington, Maine, South Dakota._

_North turns back to York, hesitating, "You know, you don't have to watch over her."_

_York nearly grumbles out, "Could say the same to you about South or Indi."_

_"That's not really an answer."_

_"So, what're you doing awake?"_

_"Theta couldn't sleep. And if Theta can't sleep--"_

_"Ah, one of the side effects they don't tell you about. Having someone else's voice in your head sure does take some getting used to, doesn't it? Delta's always running these probabilities."_

_"Well, that seems annoying," North notes while leaning against the table beside York._

_"He says it's fun. You know, did you know that statistically, you are as likely to get hit by lightning, as you are to die in a Pelican crash?"_

_North smiles to himself, "Seems like it would be higher, considering our line of work. Guess I'm due for a few lightning bolts."_

_They laugh together as they hear FILSS from down in the training room, **"Round complete. A six point three percent increase in efficiency that round, Agent Carolina."**_

_"Run it again, FILSS."_

**_"Resetting the training room floor, for next round."_ **

_And just like that, Carolina is back at it._

_"Is Theta up late often?" York asks._

_"You're wondering if he gets scared a lot."_

_"Yeah, guess I am."_

_"Well, it happens. Mainly at night. He likes when I walk the halls. When we were kids my Dad would have to drive South around in the car to get her to fall asleep. It's kinda the same thing."_

_"I wonder if they're all like this. The A.I.s you know, jittery... nervous- no, not nervous..." York fishes for the right word._

_"Anxious."_

_"Yeah, anxious. It's like Delta thinks something bad is always about to happen. I don't get it. What do they have to worry about?" York asks while standing up, leaning against the table._

_"Pelican crashes, lightning strikes. Hey, maybe they know something we don't."_

_Carolina continues training, North yawning absentmindedly while scribbling down on his clipboard. York watches him before pushing himself off the table, "Why don't you just pull him for a night? Get yourself some sleep."_

_"Pull Theta?" North's eyebrows scrunch up._

_"Yeah."_

_"He gets even **more**  scared when I do that. I feel obligated to help."_

_York sits back down, "I see why they picked you."_

_"Yeaaah."_

_"Well, he has to face his fear at some point. If they wanna be human that's a good place to start."_

_"What can I tell you, I guess some things are just, harder to face than others."_

_"Yeah," York notices the time and can feel this conversation wrapping up, "Night, North."_

_North pokes his shoulder, "Don't stay up too late, you need your rest."_

_He leaves without another word, his feet dragging a little more now than before. The coffee doesn't help anymore as he's so used to these late night walks, "How are you feeling, Theta? Ready to head back to bed, kiddo?"_

_Theta appears again, his usual bright light slowly dimming, "Yeah, I think I'm tired..."_

_"Alright, let's go."_

_It doesn't take long before North is inside his room again. Or Indi's room, he honestly doesn't remember whose room this used to be before they merged. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, he slips off his shoes and socks before slipping underneath the covers, yawning quietly as he does so. It only takes a moment for him to settle before Indiana shifts slightly in her sleep, chasing after that familiar body heat. Her arms fully envelop around North's torso, his arm automatically swinging itself around her form and tucking her to his side, one of her legs pressed up against his._

_Indiana hums as she gets comfortable again, shifting her head slightly to look up at him, "How's Theta?"_

_Before he could respond, Theta appears in front of the two Freelancers, messing with his hands and lowering his head, shyly, "I'm okay. I'm sorry I woke you, Indi..."_

_"You have nothing to be sorry for," Indi yawns before lifting her hand to wave him over, "Come here."_

_Without being told a second time, Theta floats over to the pair and his hologram acts as if he was cuddling in between the two adults. Obviously, he doesn't need to sleep that way, coddled like a child between his parents, but it definitely helps. If not for him, then for Indi. Even though Theta could feel just as safe nestled inside North's head, Theta's soft glow gives out a warm feeling that lulls Indi to sleep almost instantly. So North watches as Theta tucks himself underneath the female's chin, Indi feeling nothing there but air as she cuddles further into his side, her eyes drifting closed again as he leans forward to kiss her temple._

_Things may be changing, and loved ones may be gone, but North wants to believe that small moments like this will always happen._


	22. Out of Mind

Grif sighs with exaggeration while stuffing yet another handful of chips into his mouth, his helmet forgotten beside him as he sits leaning against the inside wall of the alien temple, "I never thought I'd say this, but I can't sleep."

"Yes, we  _know,_ " Simmons, now also without a helmet, rolls his human and cyborg eye while sitting beside Grif,"You've been shoveling food into your mouth for an hour."

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Tucker's dark nose scrunches up while sitting opposite of the two Reds, respectfully seated in between Caboose and Ghost.

"It's a nervous habit, okay?"

"No, where the fuck does someone find potato chips in the middle of the desert?"

Ghost leans closer to Tucker as if pretending to whisper, "I told you we should have stolen his secret stash in Blood Gulch when we had the chance."

"Ah, quit yer complainin'," Sarge grunts while pacing with his shotgun in front of them, ignoring the way Tucker gave Ghost a fistbump, "Carolina's probably miles away by now. The only thing we've got to worry about is sand fleas. And that, other trained operative on patrol outside."

"Wow. You have a way with words that just immediately makes me want to kill myself," Tucker admits sarcastically.

Ghost rolls her eyes, long hair up in a messy bun that stuck to her skin in the heat, "Nice of you not to include me among the trained operatives."

"Look, it's like your little fairy friend said--"

"I thought Donut was your friend?" Tucker asked Sarge.

"He means Church," Simmons deadpanned.

"Right. Because Donut was your boyfriend," Ghost's grin hurt her cheeks as Tucker shot a glare at her.

Sarge continues, "All we've got to do is stick together, and everything will be just fine."

Grif huffs, "Well, somebody probably should have told Caboose that. 'Cause he's gone."

Ghost groans in annoyance, using the wall behind her to help stand up in her armor, "I'll find him," she says while brushing off her knees and putting her helmet back on, Tucker noticing the way her fingers trailed over a small purple stripe going off the side of her visor.

Meanwhile, Wash is watching the sunset after a long day of patrolling the temple from outside, unwilling to go in to sleep or talk amongst the others, mostly because he didn't want to be anywhere near Ghost right now.

He finds it weird how easy he was able to call her that. He's always known her as Indiana, but when he was told that she didn't go by that name anymore, he had shocked himself when he never slipped up her name and found calling her Ghost much easier. Obviously, Carolina doesn't care and only addresses her as Agent Indiana, and maybe Wash shouldn't care either and call her that just to piss her off since she's done far worse to him anyways.

"Sneaking. Sneaking. Sneaking. Sneaking."

Washington's train of thoughts breaks when he hears the familiar voice most likely whispering to himself and sighs in exhaustion, "Hello, Caboose."

"Hello, Agent Washington."

"Caboose, you know you're supposed to be in the temple with the rest of your squad," Wash dotes.

"Um, yes, uh well, um but you see um, I am spying on you."

Wash sighs again, sounding older than he actually is before turning to face the cobalt blue armor several feet away from him, "And  _why_ , are you spying on me, Caboose?"

"Well, yes um, since everyone is kind of  _scared_  of you, Ghost, and uh Carolina, we figured we should try and get as much information, on you guys as possible, so uh... where do you guys see yourselves in the next five to ten years?"

"Caboose, you realize that when you spy on someone, no one's actually supposed to know that you're spying on them, right?"

Caboose stands, "Oh yeah I know, I just figured you wouldn't tell anyone," his voice deepens when he crouches back down.

Wash is stunned by that statement, "Wait, what makes you think that?"

Caboose stands up again, turning to walk away, "Oh come on Agent Washington- I mean I- you know I'm pretty sure that we can trust you? I mean we are friends."

Wash turns back around to watch the sunset after Caboose leaves, the word running heavy over his tongue, "Friends..."

It wasn't long after Caboose leaves when Wash heard those familiar footsteps. The same footsteps he could always count on to come running to his room when he woke up screaming. The same footsteps he always counted on to be the first to arrive -even before the medics- when he got injured during Freelancer.

And even now, Wash counted them on being here, even if he didn't want it.

"Hey," Ghost says awkwardly as she approached him, "You seen Caboose?"

"He just left."

"Right. Thanks," she turns back around to leave, but it only takes a couple of steps before she curses under her breath and turns around, "Look, I know you're pissed at me," Ghost starts off, hanging back behind Wash instead of sitting beside him like she used to, "We abandoned you and so Project Freelancer tortured you the most. You definitely suffered the most. But Wash..."

She sighs, and Wash oh so badly wants to run, either from guilt or the coddling, because Ghost always ends up talking down to him like a mother would her child. It's not like she does it on purpose, but that's how their relationship always was. Everyone in Freelancer doted on Wash, Indi more than others, "Had you left Project Freelancer with me... You would have died, too."

Washington doesn't turn back to look at her. He doesn't say or do anything for quite some time. She doesn't leave in that time, and Wash wished that she had before he could speak his mind, "At this point, dying would have been a lot easier than being tortured..."

Ghost sighs from behind him, her voice sounding farther away, indicating that she was turning to leave, "...I know."

~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, with the sky above them still gray and waiting for the sun, Carolina returns on her ATV, the Blues noticing that Church wasn't there.

"Alright, pack it up people, we're moving."

Grif groans, "Where to  _now_."

"There's an old ship that crashed at a Freelancer outpost a few years back," Carolina informs as Caboose moves from behind her to go to the ATV to find Church.

Wash startles in question, "Outpost 17-B?"

"You mean we're going back to Valhalla?" Simmons asks.

"Back to our own base?" Sarge tries to confirm.

"That's right assholes," a voice sounds from over Carolina's shoulder, Caboose turning away from the ATV when he realized Church was no longer there, but beside Carolina, "You're finally going home. And you're taking  _us_ , with you."

~~~~~~~~~

It wouldn't be until another three days later when the team of simulation troopers, A.I., and Freelancers come across the familiar green field with rock cliffs, a waterfall, and an ocean crashing waves in the distance. The Reds and Blues park, Wash leading Carolina over, "Pelican's over there. That's where Tex ended up."

"You mean, her body, ended up there."

"Right."

"Show me."

As Wash and Carolina start to take off towards the Pelican, Simmons runs up behind them, "Wait! What about the military? There's bound to be a trap, remember?"

Carolina appeared concerned about that, but only for a second, "What are you talking about?"

Sarge, still seated on the passenger seat of Grif's ride, spoke up, "Wash told us we were fugitives of the law; bandits, cast out by society, with no hope of redemption."

Simmons nods, "Yeah, and that the UNSC would be waiting for us when we got back to base."

Carolina turns to glare through her helmet at Wash, no point in hiding her tiny smirk when Wash's voice staggers, "It was a possibility."

"So, let me get this straight..."

Church appears over Carolina's shoulder when he first hears Tucker's voice, " _Psst hey Church, over here!_ "

Church floats over to him, Ghost and Caboose as the Blue Team stand furthest away from the crowd, "Yeah hey, what- I can't talk too long, my connection with Carolina's memory unit's not so good. What's up?"

Tucker talks fast while pretending to make small talk, "Well, not much, my first time here so I'm just taking it all in, really enjoying the scenery, what about you?"

Church stutters a little, shocked at the attempt Tucker makes to have a normal conversation with him, "Well, I mean yeah, you know. Now that you mention it, the trees are kinda nice, especially in comparison to the desolate environment of the sand, and the... ah- wait wait wait- is that it?"

"No, that's not it!" Tucker snaps, "What the fuck are you doing with Carolina?"

"Hey,  _calm down_. Turns out she's more complicated than we thought."

Caboose brightens, "Like Monopoly. Or like the board game."

"Church," Tucker tries reasoning, "Just because you wanna get close to someone, doesn't mean you have to end up inside them."

Churh, Ghost and even  _Caboose_  stand in silence while they wait, expecting Tucker to make his usual comeback until Church can't take it, "Oh come on, aren't you gonna say it?"

"No because I'm pissed off."

"Alright alright, look, guys, I'm still on your side, okay? But  _if_  Carolina is hiding something, I'm gonna have to stay close to her in order to find it. See? Proximity is the key."

"I thought memory was the key?"

"Oh-- yeah, and the sword, the sword is a key too," Caboose pitches in.

"Caboose, shut up."

Church's body flickers, "Uh-hey, I gotta go, we'll talk later."

Church disappears as Caboose turns to Tucker and a silent Ghost, "We should probably get a key ring."

Back to the Reds and the Freelancers, Simmons looks distraught, "So are you guys gonna give  _us_  anything to do?"

"Just sit tight," Carolina tries saying in the nicest, calmest way she could say it, "In fact, don't do anything. At all."

Simmons huffs in defeat, " **Fine.** "

Grif climbs out of the car once the Freelancers leave, nudging Simmons with delight, "Now  _that's_  the kind of order I can get behind. Next, do you think she'll tell us to sleep in tomorrow or order us to stop bathing for a week?"

"Wait- what, you've done that?"

Grif backtracks, "No? I wanna say no."

Sarge turns to them from his seat in the Warthog, "We've been sittin' tight for days. If I sit any tighter I'll strangle my seat."

Grif sighs happily, "I'm not worried, I could use a break."

"We haven't done anything."

"Exactly. Avoiding work is kind of what I do, so if you think about it, I've been on the clock this entire time. I should be getting paid overtime for this."

"You get paid overtime?" Simmons asked.

"Uh, yeah? Time and a half over forty hours, dude. Time and a half and a half over sixty. It's a shame there aren't any numbers higher than sixty."

" **What? Seriously?** "

"I've never gotten it though. One time I thought I did, but it turns out you have to do it in just one week. Could have sworn it was monthly."

Simmons distressed, "They told me I was ineligible for overtime. I put in sixty hours a week!"

"Weird. Well,l tell me they at least match your 401k."

"Friends benefits," Sarge curses as he hops out of the jeep, "I'm tired of all this waiting. Come on fellas, now's our chance!"

"I don't know, you know how I feel about taking chances, Sir," Simmons trails off.

"You said Lopez was shot here. Let's go get him back. Leave no man behind, Simmons. No robot without his nuts. No Warthog unlubed."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"He's a  _robot_ , Simmons. We can rebuild him and activate him at any time. Give us an edge over those pesky Blues. In the battle of ghosts versus robots, robots always win. Except in anime."

"No. I mean it didn't make sense why we would  _do_ that. He's an awful soldier!"

"But he's a great mechanic."

"Nothing's broken."

"Au contraire;  _Lopez_  is broken. You said so yourself. He could get to work on that."

"But- but we would have to fix him, in order for him to- you see  _he's_  the w- hh, you know what, just never mind," Simmons gives up.

"Ah ha. So you see the point."

Simmons rolls with it, "Yes. I see the point. It's just not the one you're making, Sir. Let's go."

"Yeah," Grif stretches, "I think I'll stay here and take a siesta. Lopez would've wanted it that way."

"A siesta?" Sarge questions after Grif took off to nap, "I don't know if I'm angry that he's bucking responsibility, or happy that he took my multicultural squad seminar to heart. That was one of the best pep talks I've ever given. That's sayin' something."

"But Sir,  _I_  gave that seminar," Simmons objects, "You made me work on it for weeks. I even did the traditional Quinceañera dance!"

"Huh. Couldn't've been that great. I don't even remember it. Let's go, Simmons."

Caboose noticed the Reds parting ways, "Hey, they're all leaving. You know what I'm gonna go see our awesome new base. It's so much... base-ier than the old one. I missed it so much!"

Caboose takes off, leaving Tucker and Ghost alone as the aqua-colored soldier slumps in defeat, "So much for sticking together."

Ghost pats his back, "Welcome to my world."


	23. Greenish Blue With Envy

_Wyoming and Maine are found in the locker room, cleaning their guns opposite of each other when Carolina comes stomping in, throwing her helmet as the leaderboard when she noticed that the results haven't changed in her favor._

_"Dammit!"  
_

_Wyoming gets up to find his locker as Sigma appears next to Carolina, "Did the training session go poorly, Agent Carolina?"_

_"No, it went fine, just not good enough."_

_"That is most unusual for you."_

_Carolina just happens to notice one locker with Tex's name on it mocking her from across the room, "Why does she even have a locker in here if she doesn't use our locker room? And what is so **special**  about her?"_

_"She does seem to get special treatment, doesn't she? Strange, considering she's not the best Freelancer."_

_Gamma appears over Carolina's other shoulder, his spliced up voice sounding like it came from a robot, "It's probably because of Omega."_

_"Now Gamma, we're not meant to speak about Omega. You know the rules," Sigma states._

_"Well, hello Gamma," Carolina greets sternly, "Does Wyoming know you're talking to another A.I.?"_

_"I am not talking to another A.I. We are both talking to you," the blue, pixelated fragment responds._

_"Who is Omega?"_

_Sigma draws closer to her, "He is one of our brothers."_

_Gamma does the same, "He is the strongest of us."_

_"And Agent Texas has him?" Carolina stands up, strolling over to said agent's locker, "She uses an A.I.?"_

_Sigma hums, "I don't think it's our place to say."_

_"All the top Agents have an A.I.," Gamma answers._

_"Well, except you, Agent Carolina. You chose not to," Sigma mentions._

_"That lying-!" Carolina begins but interrupts herself as Gamma and Sigma draw closer to her, her voice becoming unhinged and frantic, "This all makes sense now. I have been an idiot. She's not better than me, it's all been Omega."_

_Gamma continues, "Omega's strength is unmatched. I don't know if anyone could beat him. At least, not alone."_

_Sigma pretends to give it some thought, "Hm, no. Not alone. We are just fragments, after all. Pieces. Omega and Texas... are something else."_

_"But if we work together..."_

_"Together. What an interesting concept, Gamma."_

_"Together," Gamma repeats, while in the background, Maine is grabbing his head and growling under his breath._

_Carolina doesn't appear to notice, "You've just given me an idea."_

_Sigma watches as the female Freelancer starts to leave, "I do hope you'll use it well, Agent Carolina. Ideas are some of our most potent weapons."_

_"Don't worry about me; I'll be fine."_

_"Yes, I'm sure you will be."_

_When Carolina leaves the locker room, the two A.I. vanish just as a helmetless Wyoming walks up to them, watching Carolina leave with a concerned gaze._

_Meanwhile, on the training room floor, the Director and Counsellor are standing in a circle alongside Agent Texas._

_"How do you feel?" The Counsellor asks._

_Tex shakes her arms in an antsy gesture, "I need to get back into the fight. These targets just aren't doing it for me."_

_"You'll be back in the field soon enough, Texas. For now, just focus on your training."  
_

_"I'm tired of training. I need something else."_

_The Counsellor peers over her shoulder to see a familiar Freelancer arguing with one of the guards while trying to get inside, "Have you noticed a change in your aggression, Agent Texas?" He asks suspiciously.  
_

_"I don't see how that--"  
_

_She is cut off as they all hear a pained grunt while the guard from just outside the training room slides across the floor to their feet. Behind him, Carolina approaches with stomping feet._

_"Carolina," the Director finally speaks up, "What are you doin' here?" He interrupts as the guard tries getting up while asking what hit him, "The training room is off limits when we--"_

_"When you're with your pet?" Carolina asks with fake concern in her voice, and it lowers, "Yes, I know. I don't care. I need to talk to you."_

_"Pet?!" Tex growls while glaring at Carolina, "You know Counsellor, I think I am noticing a change in my aggression levels."  
_

_"Everyone please just remain calm," the Counsellor tries stepping in between them all, "Carolina, you can use the training room when you are next assigned."_

_"I want an A.I.," Carolina continues to address the Director while ignoring the Counsellor._

_"An A.I.? What has caused this sudden change of heart?" The Director asks._

_"It doesn't matter. I'm still at the top of the leaderboard."_

_Tex drawls, "Not the **top**  of the leaderboard."_

_"And **you**  can keep your comments to yourself," Carolina seethes, "I know all about your little secret; what you really are. The next A.I. that comes up is mine."_

_"Fill me in, Carolina; what exactly is my secret?" Tex snaps while going toe to toe with the other female._

_"Both of you, stand down, the Director orders, both ladies immediately breaking away from each other, "Alright Carolina, if you want an A.I., then you will have an A.I. In fact, you can choose. Agents Washington and South Dakota are both due for implantation today. We have two A.I., Eta, and Iota, ready for field testing. Which one o' your teammates do you think you should delay? I'll leave that up to you."_

_"Director--"_

_"No!" The Director's voice raises at the Counsellor, "If she thinks our decisions are so easy, then let her make one. What's it going to be, Carolina?"_

_"And whatever I choose you will do?"_

_"That's right," he growls._

_"Then I want them both."_

_The whole training room falls into silence, the Counsellor unable to hide the shocked expression on his usual blank face, "Excuse me?"_

_"Carolina, you cannot have them both," the Director rejects._

_" **Yes, I can.**  These suits, wherever they came from, are designed to handle a full A.I., and as you are so fond of telling us, these are not full A.I. They are just fragments, and from what I can tell the newer ones are getting weaker all the time. So I want them both. Or I'm sorry, is that decision too  **tough**  for you?"_

_The Director doesn't hesitate, "Counsellor, move Agents Washington and South Dakota back in the schedule, and prepare Agent Carolina for surgery."_

_"I think if we let cooler heads prevail, we will--"_

_"If you wanted to deal with cooler heads, Counsellor, perhaps you should have joined the Coast Guard. Prep her for surgery."_

_"You won't regret this," Carolina tells him._

_"No, Agent Carolina, I very much doubt that I will."_

_The Counsellor and Director leave, and Tex shoulders past Carolina to follow them before turning around, "Hey, that was gutsy. Hope it works out for you."_

_"When it does, you'll be the first to know."_

_"I look forward to it," Tex goes to leave, hesitating to look up and notice Sigma looking back down at her from Maine's shoulder as they and Wyoming had watched the whole scene from the observation room._

_Back in the locker room, the other Freelancers had filed in when they heard the news. York is leaning against the lockers while the others are just standing around while debating. South, however, is pacing angrily._

_"What?! This is bullshit!"_

_North steps in, raising his voice at his sister for once, "South, calm down!"_

_" **Calm down?!**  That's easy for you to say, you already have an A.I. Who the fuck is she to take away  **our**  place?!"_

_Wash stutters while trying to assure her, his locker open to everyone who sees the pictures of cats and a skateboard inside, "Our turn will come. They've already put me back on the list for--"_

_He's cut off by Indiana shoving him quickly to shut him up, her voice drops in warning, "Wash..."_

_But it's already too late as South stomps forward to pursue him, causing Wash to fall and sit on a bench, " **What**?"_

_In her anger, she kicks over another bench, York looking across the way at Wash with his foot perched on the bench in front of him, arms crossed while North sits back down, "You ever notice every time you open your mouth you make things worse?"_

_"Sorry," Wash whispers so quietly and shamefully, Indi almost has to lean into him to hear it as she sits back down beside him, across from North._

_"And **two**  A.I.?! Why is she so special, what's so special about  **either**  of them?!" South screams as she punches Tex's locker wide open, the force causing the nameplate to fall to the ground._

_"Pick it up."_

_Everyone turns to see Tex come out of nowhere from behind South, squaring off with her as York is the first to ask the obvious question, "What're you doing in here? You never come in here."_

_"I've come for Carolina," Tex answers without looking away from South while repeating, "Pick it up."_

_The whole room is silent as South tries to hesitate, trying to glare off at the woman in front of her before finally, she relents and picks up the half of Tex's nameplate that says TEX. She shoves it at the said agent and storms out, Texas catching the nameplate with her hand._

_North stands up with nervously pointing after his sister, "I- I should probably uh... I better go."_

_"Where is she?" Tex asks while North passes her to leave._

_"Look, Texas," York finally pushes himself from leaning on the lockers, "I don't know if you're looking for a fight, or whatever it is you want, but now's really not the time. Carolina just went into surgery. We don't know when she'll be out so we're heading over to Recovery to wait for her."_

_He says this while Tex listens, the female Freelancer walking over to her now opened locker to notice some dog tags inside. Wash also joins York to stand behind Texas, "Yeah. Recovery One."_

_"Maybe you should come with us," York waits for a response but calls it quits when she doesn't respond, "Let's go. You coming, Texas?"_

_"Yeah. Go on, York. I'm right behind ya," Tex finally responds while Indiana follows the other two male Freelancers out the door._

~~~~~~~~~

_Washington enters the med bay with York and Indiana once they heard Carolina was out of surgery. The aqua armored Freelancer was out cold on one of the beds, helmet gone with Wyoming sitting beside her, "So, how's the patient?"_

_"She'll be coming around any moment," Wyoming answers, looking up from his datapad._

_Indiana scoffed while sitting down at the very edge of the bed by Carolina's feet, "Bet you she won't even take time to rest."_

_York, not wearing his helmet, indicates Maine in the background with another medic as he sits on the other side of Carolina, "What's he in for?"_

_"Probably for all the headaches he's been having," Wash guesses, "Did you ever get them after you earned Delta?"_

_"At first. They went away pretty quick though. The other side effects were **way**  worse."_

_"What other side effects?_

_"You know. Bleeding from the eyes, ringing ears... inverted penis."_

_Wash startles with panic in his voice, "Inverted **what?** "_

_Indiana snorts in her hand while York laughs, "Dude, I'm just fucking with you, 'kay? Couple headaches, that's it."_

_"So what's different about Maine then?" Wash wonders while watching Maine from a distance._

_Indi shrugs, "Maybe the A.I.s effect people differently."_

_The others don't think too much about it as York notices the figure on the bed beginning to stir, "Hey, she's awake. How you feelin' Champ?"_

_Everyone stands around Carolina as she comes to, sitting straight up in bed once she realizes where she is, her glare hard and almost evil, "I want a match. **Right. Now.** "_


	24. New & Improved

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: VERY short chapter

"This is the awesome new base?" Tucker asks as Caboose gives him the tour, "Looks the same as the shitty old base to me."

"Oh, you are gonna love it here! You know it's like our home away from home, that we can't ever get away from."

"So let me get this straight. It's just two bases, in the middle of a box canyon."

"Yes, but at one side, instead of a wall, there's an endless supply of water."

"Wow, you guys really know how to upgrade. Let me guess, I bet this time, we've got a tank with eight pedals instead of six."

"Ah, don't be silly. We don't have a tank."

Tucker looks around again, "Hey, where did Ghost go?"

Back at the Pelican, Ghost sneaks to one side to listen in on the conversation just as Wash reports back to Carolina.

Carolina starts asking, "Alright, what've you got?"

"Not much. A few shell casings, a dog tag--"

"I was talking to Church."

"Oh. Sorry, I--"

Church appears from where he was hacking into the Pelican's program, "Hey, what's up. Somebody call me?"

"Yeah. Find anything yet?" Carolina asks.

"Oh, not yet, but the uh, onboard computer program's an old friend of mine. She's doing her best to help me out."

"Good. Keep it up," she adds the last bit with a hint of encouragement before it's gone and Church disappears back into the Pelican, "Wash is there a reason you're just standing there doing nothing? Get back to it."

Wash suddenly breaks from the frozen posture he was stuck in while watching Epsilon disappear, his own tone of voice just as flat, "Uhm, right. Yes Sir, boss."

Carolina turns back to the damaged Pelican, muttering to herself, "You can't keep your secrets forever Texas. Not from me.  _Never_  from me."

Wash turns back around last second, the thought aching in the back of his brain, "I still don't feel comfortable not telling Ghost any of this."

"Just keep looking. Leave Indiana to me."


	25. Three's a Crowd

_FILSS' voice announces the upcoming match as York follows Carolina down to the training floor, **"A new challenger has arrived. Today's matchup is Agent Texas versus Agent Carolina."**_

_An armament table shoots up from the floor, providing an armory load of weapons for the opponents. Texas is already there across the training room opposite of the other table as York gives off a tone of instruction and encouragement while Carolina shifts through the weapons, "Okay, just pick a piece of equipment you know how to use already--" he stops short when Carolina starts taking all of the weapons, "...Or, just grab everything and anything, that works too I guess."_

_All of the other Freelancers are watching from the observation room, Sigma floating beside Maine as they all anxiously wait for the battle. Back on the floor, Omega appears over Tex's shoulder with his dark purple aura._

_"Hey, I got this one, Omega," Tex tells him.  
_

_Omega grunts, "Next time," he states while vanishing._

**_"Agent York, please clear the floor."_ **

_York turns towards the leaderboard like that's where the voice was originating from, " **In a second, FILSS**. Now, at first the voice of the A.I.- sorry, A.I.s - it'll feel like a tickle, okay? Just focus on that, and it'll get clear. Trust them. I know that'll be hard, but I promise they'll help."_

**_"Agent York, clear the floor, please."_ **

_" **In a second, FILSS.** "_

**_"Clear the floor, or enter the match, York. Your choice."_ **

_York ponders on the threat as Tex's table disappears into the floor, the black armored Freelancer cracking her neck and knuckles as it does so. York hesitates before looking at Carolina, "For the record, I would stay to support you, but she's really damn scary."_

_Carolina appears to glare through her helmet at him before he corrects himself, "Okay, maybe you're both pretty scary. Gotta go."  
_

_Eta and Iota, in their respective pastel yellow and light aqua aura colors, appear near Carolina and split, as York walks away, then they merge back together and vanish._

_"Anyone wanna bet that one of them gets killed?" North asks with a flat tone as York finally joins them on the observation deck._

_Wash sputters worriedly, "Are you kidding? I'm hoping one of **us**  doesn't get killed just by watching!"_

_Indiana shifts feet while looking nervously down between Tex and Carolina, "I have a bad feeling about this... Very bad."_

_FILSS' voice returns, **"Round begins in three, two, one, begin. Good luck, ladies!"**_

_Tex and Carolina respond at the same time, "Thanks. I won't need it."_

_As Tex and Carolina start running at each other, yelling, the Director enters the observation booth with the intent to lecture, "What the hell is going on here? No matches have been authorized for--" he stops in horror, " **No** ,  **Allison!** "_

_The Director runs up to the observation window and bangs on the glass as all of the A.I. fragments' voices start pounding into everyone's skulls, the same name being repeated over and over again, driving Indiana's blood to run cold, like a ghost breathing down her neck._

**_"Allison..."_ **

_"Allison..."_

**_"Allison..."_ **

_"Allison..."_

**_"Allison..."_ **

_"Allison..."_

**_"Allison..."_ **

_And as Tex and Carolina reach each other, Carolina collapses and grabs her head once the voices hit her like a missile, screaming at the top of her lungs as Iota and Eta appear on their knees, grabbing their helmets beside her._

_"Allison..."_

**_"Allison..."_ **

_Everyone else in the observation room with an A.I. kneel in pain and nearly screams, except Maine who is unable. They drop like flies, those with an A.I are suddenly bombarded and driven mad by the dozens of voices in their heads. The Freelancers with an A.I all clutch their heads in pain, some even ripping off their helmets in an attempt to get rid of the voice._

_"Allison..." York repeats the name with a groan while trying to attempt to crush his head to stop the pain, falling to the ground beside Wyoming._

_Those who did not possess an A.I, however, stood around with concerned and panicked looks in their eyes. Indiana drops down in front of Agent North Dakota, trying to pry his hands away from his helmet as she practically helps to tear it off for him. While trying to speak to him, he's desperately trying to crush his own brain and she grips his wrists hard enough that they had to hurt in order to try to stop him._

_She tears her own helmet off so North could hear her better, "North!? North!! What is it? What's wrong? Theta, what's happening?!"  
_

_But the only answer she got was Theta still whispering that oh so familiar **name**  and appearing on North's shoulder, also clutching his small head and doubling over in pain. Looking around the room, Indiana could still see York and Maine with their helmets on, both clawing at their helmets and implants, while North and Wyoming are on the ground, groaning and yelling in pain without their helmets on. The Director, Counsellor, South, and Wash are all standing around, observing the horrific scene as Indiana is trying to get North to stop from hurting himself._

_Down below, Carolina is struggling to pull her helmet off, and finally succeeds as she continues to scream at the top of her lungs, crawling on all fours while grabbing at her ears, "Aaah! Make them stop! Make them stop, the voices- make the voices stop!"_

_Tex watches the scene silently, walking forward and offering her hand to Carolina, who only swats it away. As the other Freelancers feel the voices slowly stop, they all slowly get up from their knees and stand back up in return. They all look at each other confusingly, throats sore from screaming and heads hurting like the devil. The Director remains stoically in the observation room after regaining his posture, watching the scene unfold with a grim expression, that Indiana observes is both uncaring and disappointment._

_The Counsellor steps forward, "Director, we should sedate Carolina. Immediately. We've no idea how much damage two A.I. could--"_

_"No, she made her decision, let her be."_

_York's voice croaks after recovering from the pain, "Come on, somebody help her!"_

_As Carolina continues to scream and doesn't appear to be getting up like the others, Tex raises her arms out while glaring up at the observation room, "What the fuck is going on!? Somebody get down here!"  
_

_The Director begins to walk away before turning back to all the other Freelancers and Counsellor, his voice sounded tired and weak than ever before, "You, are all, dismissed."_

_Indiana can only watch the Director leave in shock, speechless with how he took the situation while struggling to keep North's weight on her._

_Tex walks over to kneel over Carolina as the other woman continues to scream and groan in pain, all the while Tex could hear her own A.I.'s voice in the back of her head, "Yes. End her. Do it. Mean it. Mean it- do it. Do it do it. Come on."_

_Tex clenches and unclenches her fist, the temptation almost drowning her before she clenches her first one last time, addressing Carolina, "Sorry, kid. This is for your own good."_

_She raises her fist and punches Carolina in the face, knocking her out and the screams bone-chillingly stop instantly. When Indiana watches Tex pick up Carolina off the ground from above, she slings North's arm over her shoulders as he groans, feeling the aftermath of pain from all the voices. He leans against her without protesting, his head drooping down to his chest._

_Indiana picks up their helmets and turns to North's twin, who is just standing there with a popped, casual hip, "South. Grab York."_

_When South doesn't respond, clearly not willing to help, Indi raises her voice to a point where North flinches beside her, "SOUTH! Grab York! Or do YOU want to be the one lying on the ground, writhing in pain?!"_

_South only hesitates for another moment before helping York. Indiana turns to Wash and motions to Wyoming. The youngest Freelancer gets the message and helps Wyoming find his helmet and bring him to his room. The Counsellor doesn't need Indiana to even look at him before he's turning to Maine, who's towering over him in height while still growling in pain._

_By the time Indiana gets North in their room, Indiana's own head in throbbing in pain, but not from any voices or A.I. Fragment. Once she has North out of his armor and resting in bed, Indiana is already out the door and heading towards the control room, not even stopping to chat when Wash asks what was going on after he had put Wyoming to bed. She storms through the sliding doors of the control room, finding the Director directly ahead of her at the bridge._

_Dr. Leonard Church had his back towards the door, staring ahead at the stars outside. His hands were respectfully folded behind him while he looked on at some screens. His head slightly tilts at the sound of heavy boots entering the room then turned back around, not sounding the least bit surprised to see her here._

_"Agent Indiana. I don't recall ever asking for you to-!_

_"Cut the bullshit and tell me the truth!" The Freelancer screamed, her voice cracking under the sudden stress placed over her shoulders, startling the pilots of the MOI and making them flinch._

_The Director barely reacts to her rage, turning around and staring at her through his glasses, waiting for her to continue._

_"I wasn't ever in a coma, was I?" Indiana asked with concern, doubt in her voice while she tries to comprehend what was going on, "Something happened to me during the war. Something you refused to tell me. What the Hell happened?"_

_At first, he didn't say anything. He didn't even blink. The entire room was silent, the only sound being Indiana's sharp breaths. By now, the Counsellor had entered the room after returning from attending Maine and was analyzing the situation. The Director finally sighs and pushes his glasses up._

_"Twenty years ago, you left my house after taking a quick shore leave to spend time with my daughter. You were flying into the battlefield when the Covenant shot your aircraft down. You had managed to save everyone from that Pelican besides yourself and the pilot. I got a telegram a week later, announcing you were killed in action. You were never in a coma, and I was never able to delay your aging. Because you were never alive. **You**  are merely a clone to the real  **Diana**   **Church**  because the real Diana has been dead for over twenty years. You just have her looks, her skills, and her memories. But you're not my sister. Not fully, at least."_

_Indi-- **Diana's**  eyes were brimmed pink, a strand of hair free from her short ponytail flowing every time she sucked in a sharp breath and let it out, "So, what? Were you in so much pain that you couldn't take it anymore? Were you hoping to cheat death and bring your sister back from the dead?"_

_She paused, her skin suddenly pale as a thought occurred to her, "Or, am I just a test run for bringing back your wife?" She noticed the way the Director stiffens, and she sheds some light on the evidence, "You told me Allison died two years after I slipped into a 'coma'. That has to be what this is all about. You didn't want me, your little sister back. You wanted **Allison** , your wife. That's why all the A.I. in there-- in the observation room. You... screamed  **Allison**. And that somehow triggered something within Theta and the others. They all represent  **you**  somehow, don't they? And Allison... Allison..." Indi huffs out something close to a whimper, her eyes widening by the moment as she stared at the Director, "Agent  **Texas**? But she's not a clone. She couldn't be or else you would be studying me to make sure the test run works right before trying to clone your wife. Her arm sparks a lot and she doesn't appear human sometimes so... an A.I. perhaps?_

_"And another thing. You told me that you sent your daughter away after her mother died, but knowing you so well, I know you are **incapable**  of letting things go. I bet your daughter reminded you of your wife so much, that you never let her out of your sight. She most likely grew up just as obsessed as you are, desperate for your attention so she tries so hard at succeeding. In fact, I bet she's here, doing exactly just that."_

_Indiana sighs, catching her breath while saying all of those things in just one go. Her eyes look down at the ground, sadness drowning her when the realization came to her, "Carolina... she's your daughter. Margaret. I used to call her Maggie," she looks back up, wearing a scowl when the Director raised his eyebrows, "Yeah, I remember her name you cock biting fucktard. She was-! She **is**  my niece."_

_"You can't tell her who you are."_

_"Why not? All you've ever done is lie to me all these years. I don't owe you any fucking favors."_

_"I brought you back from the dead. You can have a second chance at life-!"_

_"What if I wanted to rest in peace?" Indiana snapped, "What if I was okay with dying the way I did and you just desecrated my dying wish? And bullshit on the second chance at life! The minute you brought me back you forced me into Project Freelancer. There is NO life after a shit show like this! You brought me back only to let me die again!"_

_Suddenly, Diana walks past him and enters the computer system's mainframe. She starts typing something down into the databanks as quick as lighting, and in the back of the Director's mind, he could hear Alpha's voice._

**_"Should I stop her?"_ **

**_"No, let her realize that there's nothing there for her to see."_ **

**_"Copy that. Securing all files of Project Freelancer's confidential experiments."_ **

_And just like that, the Alpha blocks all experiments, from the A.I. project down to the experimental twin theory, locking them away from Indiana's sight. But strangely enough, she takes no notice of any of it. When she just continued typing, the Director finally questions her motives._

_"Diana, what exactly are you doing?"_

_"Whatever happened to Agent Indiana, **Leonard**?" Diana hissed back, "And I'm looking for proof. Proof of my death certificate. Proof that Tex-- Allison is just an A.I... Proof that the fragments all resemble you...  **somehow**."_

_Indiana slams her fist against the keypad in frustration when a bunch of ERRORS pops up on the screen. Apparently, she wasn't that good at technology as she was meant to believe. She stomps to the door, calling over her shoulder as she did so, "I won't tell Carolina who I am, but then that means you have to leave me and North alone! This is not up for debate, **Director**." She butchered his title sarcastically, letting the door to the control room slide close behind her._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uff ta, so yeah. THAT happened. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I know I really enjoyed writing it!


	26. Happy Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We learn the truth as North and Indiana discuss their options intensely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: By far, the longest chapter yet but it's full of passion and I love it. Please enjoy!

"Nothing. Nothing, a dead end. Dammit, not again!"

Carolina punches the Pelican and Church appears, "Hey, watch it, I'm still in here."

"Response teams beat us to the crash, plain and simple. We knew the chances of finding something here were slim," Wash reminds her.

"Okay, well, what about the bases?" Church asks.

"Blue Base was swept clean; as for Red Base, any evidence that might have been there was com _pletely_  destroyed during the construction of some kind of giant holographic projection room."

"Man. Those guys are really starting to find creative ways to ruin my life," Church says almost sadly, "...Motherfuckers."

"This is our third wild goose chase, Wash. Even after she's gone, Texas is still finding ways to screw me over," Carolina snaps.

"You can't blame her for this," Wash defends, "Time isn't on our side, Carolina. Any trail she left behind likely went cold years ago."

"Are you suggesting we give up?"

"Of course not," he quickly says, "I was just--"

"Good. Then go spread the word:  _we're leaving._ "

"But... we just got here."

"What's your point?"

"Well, don't you think we're pushing these guys a little too hard? This place is pretty much home to them.  _They_  may not be ready to leave it so soon."

"Yeah, I'm really choked up about it," Church chuckles sarcastically.

"Despite what those idiots may think, this is not a road trip," Carolina lures forward and gets in Wash's face, "This is a mission. And I will see it, completed. Is that understood, Agent Washington?"

Wash could practically melt Carolina and her armor into a puddle if she could finally see the glare he was directing at her from behind his helmet. This may have been the first time in a long time that he ever felt disgusted to even know her. For a long moment, he didn't speak before turning away and not ashamed of the sarcasm behind his voice, "Yes, boss."

He steps around the Pelican and out of Carolina's sight and is immediately met with Ghost, who overheard everything. Wash doesn't spare her a second glance before going to inform the others, while Ghost listens in to Church's remark.

"What the hell happened to that guy? Didn't he used to be a badass, like you and Tex?"

Carolina crouches down and physically pulling Epsilon from the Pelican's database, causing Church to flicker off, "Ow!" He reappears on Carolina's shoulder once he was back in her memory unit, "I meant badass j-uh, just like you. Just like just you. Only you. Only- nobody else."

There's someone behind them clearing their throat, and when Carolina and Church turn around, they're met with Ghost who had finally come out from hiding in the shadows.

Ghost pretends not to notice Carolina as she only looks at the A.I., "Church, a word please."

Within moments, Ghost found herself as far away from Carolina as she could be without Church breaking his connection with her memory unit. The former Freelancer just stands there for a moment, watching the hologram of Church sort of shift uncomfortably before snapping, just as she intended him to, 

"What do you want? I'm kind of busy."

"How is it you've only been inside Carolina's head for a few days and you already sound like a whiny bitch?" Ghost hisses.

"Woah woah! What's with the hostility?"

"What's with the sudden douchebaggery?"

Church flattens his voice, "Oh, sorry. Did I hurt your feelings."

Ghost falls into complete silence again, Church noticing the way she just stood there with her arms crossed and her hip popped like she had been waiting for him to lash out. And since she knows him so well, she probably did. It was probably her plan all along and he had been too predictable and fell for it.

Ghost just stares directly at him with venom in her voice, "I don't expect anything less from the likes of  _you_ , asshole. But if you ever say another bad thing about Agent Washington again, I will personally pull your plug. I don't care how Tucker and Caboose will feel, because you obviously don't deserve them. Wash has been through enough, and he's a much better soldier than either you or Carolina will ever be, both body and soul."

Church's figure glitches for a moment, "Since when did you care about Wash?"

"Since when did  _you_  care period? The answer is  _never_. Wash, however, has always cared."

~~~~~~~~~

On the other side of the canyon, Sarge and Simmons come across what looks to be a small hut, with a stereo outside playing peppy music. Also outside was none other than Lopez, hung up like a scarecrow with overalls and a straw hat. He was posted among a vegetable garden, surrounded by a white picket fence.

"There he is! Spanish Inquisition, someone's been torturing him!" Sarge announces. 

"Huh, I don't think so Sir. It kinda looks like a scarecrow," Simmons mentions.

"Savages. And they've erected this fence as a warning, for civilized people to stay away."

"It actually looks like a garden. Wait a minute, is that compost? Sustainable farming? Environmentally friendly housing? Oh no."

"What?"

"Oh, hey guys! I thought I heard voices."

In front of them, emerges a familiar shade of armor known as lightish red, or pink if you will. He exits the hut when he heard voices and Sarge speaks out what everyone is thinking, "Donut?"

"Hi, Sarge! Long time no see!" Franklin Delano Donut, alive and well, was standing before them.

Simmons was more than shocked, "I thought you were dead!"

"You know, we sure seem to say that a lot these days," Sarge states.

Donut is happy to elaborate on the story, "I almost was. That jerk Washington shot me in the stomach, but then my armor locked up on me. Kept me alive for a while until it unlocked again for some reason. It was  _horrible_. Do you know what removes blood stains from this armor? Not a lot I tell you. I lay there forever wondering how I was gonna get all that dark red, out of this light red. You know?"

"How did you survive? When your armor unlocked, you would have just bled to death," Simmons states.

"And when did you get all new agey?" Sarge adds.

Simmons suddenly pales, "Uh oh."

"What?"

"Sarge, think about it. Medical attention? Fringe holistic lifestyle choices? You know what that means."

From behind them, another foreign yet familiar voice calls out, "Wow, look what the cat dragged in. And by dragged in I mean spit out like a hairball, hey guys!"

Sarge doesn't both to look around, "Simmons, is that Doc behind us?"

"I think so."

"Simmons, get my gun."

"You're holding it, Sir."

"Oh. Right. Simmons, I'm gonna need you to commence Operation Point My Gun At Doc."

"But Sir, Operation Point My Gun At Doc is just a code phrase for Operation Point My Gun At Grif."

"Drat! Fine. Switch to Operation Point My Gun At Grif!"

"Yeah, actually, Sir, that one was just, what it sounds like. Sorry."

"Double drat!"

~~~~~~~~~

Unfortunately for Grif, he had to face Carolina after a long needed nap once he stepped out of the base.

"Hey you, orange one. Where's the rest of your team?"

Grif is flabberghasted, "How should I know?"

"You don't report into each other?"

"Oh yeah, I mean, I  _get_  reports."

"You might be the worst soldiers I've ever met."

"Hey, I take offense at that. What do you mean  _might_  be?"

Carolina sees two shades of reds coming her way, "Here they come. Let's move out."

She leaves just as Sarge and Simmons approach Grif, "Hey guys, d'you find Lopez?"

"Yeah. Donut nailed him to a board. He's staying here," Simmons answered.

"I thought Donut was dead!"

Sarge grunts, "Yeah, we really need to stop saying that."

"He almost was," Simmons explains, "But Doc fixed him up, and now they live together. They say hi by the way. Oh, and they baked us this banana bread.

"How nice! I'm gonna have to forget to send them a thank-you card. Hey, Simmons? When you say Donut nailed Lopez to a board..."

"I mean with nails."

"Okay. Had to ask."

Simmons stutters, "No no, I understand, I- I should have been clearer. That's my fault."

~~~~~~~~~

On the opposite side of the canyon, Ghost, Caboose, and Tucker all walk up to Carolina, Tucker being the first to voice his opinion, "Hey what's the deal, we're leaving already?"

"That's right. You got a problem with that?" Carolina growls slowly while Wash preps one of the jeeps behind her.

Church suddenly appears, "Carolina, why don't you let me handle this."

Church finds himself talking with Caboose, Ghost, and Tucker alone not long after, "Tucker, what do you want?"

"I wanna know what you found out about Carolina. Is she evil? Is she crazy? Is she crazy evil?"

"Is she pretty?" Caboose asks.

"Ooh yeah, is she hot? Ohohoh, or is he a dude?"

Ghost snorts but doesn't get far before Tucker is turning to her, "Don't. Even. Think about it."

"Guys, I've got more important things to do right now," Church states.

"What are you talking about, you're supposed to be spying on her. She's the enemy, remember? Us against them!"

"Hey, you don't know anything about her, Tucker. You have no idea what she's been through."

Things have obviously changed in the few days Church has been with Carolina, since he was more focused now to help her and even defend her then spying on her for the Blues like he was supposed to, and Tucker notices that. But Ghost beats him to the punchline as the female Blue growls, "Well, I do. I know what she's been through. And may I just say... fuck her," she quickly adds, "And no, Tucker, not what I meant."

"Since when did--"

"Look, will you guys get in the fucking car so we can leave already? Thank you," Church snaps before disappearing from the Blues and reappearing with Carolina.

"What was that about?" She asked.

"Nothing. I need to talk to you."

~~~~~~~~~

_Back on the MOI, many years ago, Texas finds herself at the medical observatory standing beside North. They don't talk for several minutes as she watches Carolina sleeping on one of the beds, York asleep beside her in a chair, "How's she doin'?"_

_"No idea. Docs thought she would have woken up by now. She's still under," North answers sadly._

_"How long has he been there?"_

_"He hasn't left her side yet."_

_"It's been days."_

_"And he's dedicated."_

_Tex walks away from the window, "You know, your sister petitioned to get one of Carolina's A.I.s."_

_North slumps almost automatically, "She didn't..."_

_"Sure did."_

_"I'll talk to her. That's inappropriate."_

_"Yeah,_ _inappropriate's_ _a word. So is vulture. Piece of advice, one soldier to another... you watch her."_

_North notices the way she seems more... chatty and, one could say almost caring, "Something's different with you."_

_"You have an A.I., right?"_

_"Theta, yeah."_

_"Takes some getting used to?"_

_"I'll say."_

_"Well, let's just say mine took a little longer than most. I'm not sure I wanna depend on him."_

_"You've been uh, pulling him?"_

_"Haven't used him in days."_

_"Does the Director know?"_

_Tex spins back to snap at North, not caring about the considerable height difference, "No, and he's not going to. No one needs to know."_

_"They_ **_have_ ** _to stop implanting now; I mean after this."_

_"Wash is up for surgery next."_

_"You're kidding me."_

_"Eh, time marches on; so does Project Freelancer," Tex begins walking away._

_North mutters under his breath, "Yeah. Lately, it seems like we're getting trampled in the process."_

_Tex turns back around, "Hey, call me when she wakes up. Or, if she doesn't."_

_"Will do."_

_Theta appears with a firework to announce his entrance as Tex leaves the room, "I think I'm starting to like her. At least better than I did before."_

_North shrugs, "Yeah, she grows on you."_

_"Still scary though," Theta says as the door closes behind Texas._

_"Oh yeah. Plenty scary."_

_As Tex is walking down the hallway, Indiana is walking towards her from the opposite end, and the ladder stiffens when she sees her, full of the new information about Tex that_ _Indi's_ _conjured up investigating the Director. Tex locks onto her stares through their helmets, the two women just stand there, bodies facing away from each other with the intent of walking away, but neither of them does._

_"I hate you," was the first thing Indi blurts out._

_"Well, whoop de fucking do, get in line," Tex snaps suddenly._

_"I'm wasn't talking about you, Tex,"_ **_I'm talking about Allison. I hate her. I hate her for leaving behind a beautiful daughter and a husband who couldn't even take care of himself!_ ** _goes unsaid, but if Agent Texas could hear it in her words, she doesn't say anything._

_When Tex leaves, Indi didn't realize that she wasn't breathing until then and sucks in some air with a violent shake. Entering the med bay with intent, North spots her the second the door opens and he takes his helmet off without a word. He hasn't seen her in days and it had worried him greatly, "What happened? Did you find out-?"_

_"I need Theta to shut down, please."_

_The request causes North's entire body to tense. Never, not once, did Indiana ever ask Theta to shut down while she talked to North. Theta trusts her almost as much as North because of it! It was like an unspoken rule of hers to never cause Theta any stress. Speaking of whom, North's A.I. fragment flickers by his shoulder, his fear humming to life in the back of North's mind._

_"What? Why?"_

_Indi sighs, messing with the clicks of her helmet to pull it off, North throwing caution to the wind when he saw the tears in her bloodshot eyes when she offered Theta a watery smile, "I just need to talk to North alone, buddy. Grown up stuff. I promise you that it'll only be for a few minutes."_

_Theta hesitates, looking between the two Freelancers in utter silence. He lowers his helmet then disappears, North didn't hesitate for a second after to reach out and grab Indi's elbow, "Are you okay? What's wrong?"_

_Indi could only stare at his eyes, opening and closing her mouth like she wants to tell him anything and everything, but was too scared to. Finally, she finds three words and sticks with it, "Let's run away."_

_"What?"_

_"Let's get out of here. Take off before anyone knows we're missing. Leave before shit hits the fan."_

_"Indi, what happened? Where did you go after I went to sleep the other day?"_

_"I..." she twists and pulls nervously at her fingers, avoiding his eyes and staring through the glass to watch York and Carolina sleeping instead. When she spots Carolina however, something within her freezes. North observes the way she rolls her lips and tightens her jaw while looking at the state Carolina was in after what she went through._

_North decides that he just can't keep on dropping any subject Indiana doesn't want to talk about. He's done so far too much and it's all probably bubbled up inside of Indi because of it... because he's far too caring to push anyone into doing something they don't want to._

_"Hey," he steps in front of Indi so her line of sight of Carolina was blocked, his hands reaching up to cup her face, forcing her to look up at him, the whites around her green eyes have turned pink, "Tell me everything."_

_"From where?" She draws out, her teeth catching onto her bottom lip nervously. There's some form of uncomfortable panic in her eyes at his soft demand, but too many weird things have happened today that North decides that now is not the time to be comfortable about anything._

_"Start from the beginning."_

_Indi shakes her head, "That's too much ground to cover. We need to leave and leave quickly. We can--"_

_"No," her eyes widen in shock complimentary to the firm tone of his voice, "We're not leaving without South and Wash. And I'm not leaving until I get the full story. There's something you're hiding that you've been beating around the bush for a long time, and I haven't said anything about it until now. But whatever it is you're hiding, it must be important. Important like it involves what happened to all of us the other day, what happened to Carolina. Important like it involves whoever this... Allison person is important."_

_He noticed the way Indi started to shiver, and North can't help but notice that Indiana has never been tough like South or Carolina, or god forbid Texas. Sure, she's extremely talented and kicks a lot of ass and that's why she's always been at the top of the leaderboard. And now that he thinks about it, Indiana never even_ **_tries_ ** _to be tough. She never_ **_tries_ ** _to be better. Never_ **_tries_ ** _to be on top. She just... is. And maybe Carolina respects her because of that instead of being competitive with her like she is with Tex. Indiana takes pride in being a lot more... emotional than South or Carolina, or god forbid Texas. More human._

_North realizes that he's proud of Indi as she takes a shaky breath before grabbing his hand, "Not here. Come on."_

_She doesn't care who sees them, vulnerable without their helmets and holding hands as she walks quickly down the hallway. It almost scares North how frantic she is to get to their room and lock them away from the world. Once she finally does though, she nearly struggles with the lock because of her shaking hands before spinning back to North, "I was born on Earth, my parents died when I was young. I don't remember how or when, but it's been only me and my brother for the majority of my life. Leonard was nearly an adult when our parents died and always took care of me. I was a pretty rebellious kid and I got into a lot of trouble because of it. Leonard eventually enrolled us into the army to keep me from juvie. During basic training, he got into a brawl with some other private, -Delany I think his name was- and this Allison came out of nowhere to save his skin,"_

_North raised his eyebrows in question, but otherwise didn't say anything, allowing Indi to continue, "Leonard was head over heels in love with her, and in time they got married and had a daughter. At this time, I finally grew up and was always away on duty. I spent my shore leaves with my niece at their house and within a month I would be back on the battlefield..."_

_She sucks in a sharp breath, "I told you that I woke up from a coma and the Director emitted me into Project Freelancer, right?" He nods, "Well, that's not entirely what happened... Twenty years ago, I left my family to go to the front lines, yet again and I... I didn't make it... I never went back home. A couple of years later, Allison is K.I.A, too, and my brother he... he must have gone mad or something. He spent the rest of his life finding ways to bring his wife back, even creating a program full of highly trained and elite soldiers to do his dirty work for him. He ran tests on how he could bring Allison back and cloned me in the process of trying to figure out a way. That's why I'm here. I'm not... I'm not entirely human."_

_North doesn't react the way she imagined. He just nods and reaches over to grasp her wrist gently. He stares at the place his thumb runs over her skin before looking up at her with a confirming look, "Twenty years?" when she nods, he looks back down at her wrist, "I had a feeling... you always had a problem with certain technology and you had never been in a suit before Freelancer. You told me that the day we met because you struggled with getting the armor on and I had to show you how."_

_He brings her wrist up to his face and lingers a warm kiss over the vein there, feeling her pulse speed up underneath his lips. He looks back at her, "But you're definitely human. You drink coffee like it's going out of style. You love the smell of pine and rain and take incredibly long showers. You talk about cats and TV shows with Wash and argue about how cereal should be made with York. You mother Theta with soothing lullabies and stories about books you've read and the most human thing I've ever seen you do is love, hurt, and enrage like one, more so than even Carolina or South. You see, Indi. You're more human than most can say about themselves. And I think I'm more qualified to say that more than anyone because I_ **_know_ ** _you."_

_She sucks in a sharp breath, letting it out slowly in order to calm her nerves. Indi finds herself stepping forward and leaning into North, all the armor making it uncomfortable but she tries making the best of it. North carefully wraps his arms around her, his mouth and nose buried in her hair at the top of her head, closing his eyes as he held her there. It takes several minutes of reassurance and safety and trust before Indiana melts away from North and he clears his throat._

_"So... what does any of this have to do with what happened the other day?"_

_She blinks, finally finding it within herself to answer honestly and right away, without hesitation, "Because my brother, Dr. Leonard Church, is_ **_the Director of Project Freelancer_ ** _."_

_North's eyebrows raise again, this time one of his feet losing its footing before North quickly catches himself as he retains all of this information. He finds himself sitting down at the edge of the bed in front of Indi, voicing his opinion, "It all makes sense. The Director screamed Allison back there. Unless..." he looks up in shock, "Texas?"_

_When she nods, North pushes it further, "Agent Texas is your sister-in-law."_

_"No," Indiana was quick to defend, "Allison was. Tex only has her memories."_

_"Nevertheless, wouldn't she have mentioned it by now?"_

_"Tex doesn't know my real name, North. She remembers me as someone who died two years before her. She still thinks I'm dead."_

_"What_ **_is_ ** _your real name?"_

_She bites her lip, "Seriously? We've been together how long and you're asking for it now?"_

_"Hey, I'm not the one who's been keeping secrets," North states knowingly, without trying to make it sound like he was accusing her._

_And with that, Indi huffs in frustration, "Yeah, but that's, ya know what? Nevermind. It's Diana. My name is Diana Church."_

_For the first time in days, Diana sees North smile and all of her pent emotions melt away and she suddenly feels relaxed. He reaches for her hand and she gladly accepts it, his thumb running over her skin again as he gleams up at her, "Like, In_ **_diana_ ** _?"_

_"Stop it," she stares up at the ceiling, rolling her eyes as he snorts, "I chose that name so I wouldn't feel so... alienated, ya know?"_

_He nods because he_ **_does_ ** _know, kissing her hand, "I like it."_

_"That's nice," she snorts, "Now can we please talk about running away?"_

_"We're not going anywhere without--"_

_"Without Wash and South, I know. So then let's go find them and-!"_

_"We can't," North says firmly while standing up, their chest plates brushing, "Wash is already up for surgery and South won't go anywhere without an A.I. Besides, don't you want to take your brother?"_

_Indi freezes at that, her eyes hardening while she glares up at North, "Why the Hell would I do that?"_

_"Because he's your--?"_

_"No!_ **_Leonard_ ** _was my brother. The Director isn't! He never was! Did you actually believe after all these years he was hard on me, dragging me down, forcing me on missions, testing me with how far I was willing to go, that I would even consider him as my family?"_

_"Well, from a_ **_brother's_ ** _point of view," North eyes her warily, "I could also point out that maybe he's trying to protect you."_

_"Not everyone can be like you and South," Indi growls, "You have to wake up and understand that not everyone's family can be like_ **_your_ ** _family! There is no, I repeat_ **_no_ ** _excuse for all the things he's done to me and my family!"_

_North sighs, "Then I have a question. If_ **_he_ ** _was in your place... If_ **_he_ ** _had died all those years ago... and then let's say_ **_I_ ** _was the one who died two years after him, would you have done anything differently? Would you have tried to save me? Would you bring him back and then try bringing me back?"_

_Indiana freezes again, her eyes wide before scoffing, "Don't talk like that. That's different."_

_"How?"_

_"Because for one, you and I aren't married like Leonard and Allison were. South would have reigned Hell before I even had a chance to think about it. And even after all of that, I have my niece to think about. She was in that equation, too. But unlike Leonard, I would never abandon her. I would never neglect her for the sake of bringing you and my brother back. She was four years old the day I left._ **_Four_ ** _. If I was there the day_ **_he_ ** _decided to forget his daughter needed him I would have killed him myself because no one should ever, EVER, neglect their child. If I had known that would happen, I would've taken Maggie away from Leonard. He would have never seen his daughter again and he might not have even cared, but at least she would have been raised right."_

_"How could you know that's how you would've reacted?" North frowns, "How could you know how you would react to losing people you love? Because I can tell you right now, if I was in his place, I would have moved heaven and earth to bring you and my sister back. No questions asked."_

_"So you would ruin the lives of everyone on board this ship to bring South and I back from the dead?" Indi crossed her arms and stared at him knowingly, "_ **_You_ ** _? The one who always puts other people first before himself._ **_You_ ** _, who had been given Theta as an A.I. because of your caring nature?"_

_"It doesn't matter what I say, Indi," he softens, "What matters is that I would give anything to have you back. To keep you safe and to keep you alive."_

_"You're not listening to me!" She yells, "We need to leave,_ **_now_ ** _! Before someone gets hurt or worse! After the other day, thing's are not going to get better and we need to stop them before they give Wash an A.I. Did you see what Carolina was willing to do just so she can have the top spot of the leaderboard again? She neglected her team, she neglected every rule in the book and even threatened anyone in her path so she could get what she wanted! She was willing to throw her entire team away and for what? For Texas? For_ **_Allison_ ** _?!"_

_"Sounds like she takes after her father."_

_Indiana's eyes widen, taken aback by the stoic look on North's face. The room was suddenly too quiet as Indi takes a step back, suspicious, "I never said--"_

_"You didn't have to. It's not that hard to put that piece of the puzzle together after what you just told me. Carolina's your niece."_

_"No, Maggie--"_

_"What? Maggie's dead? No, she was right there, lying in that med bay back there, nearly driven mad by the voices in her head. Your niece was right there, hurting, and you looked at me and only wanted to run away. You wanted to run away from Carolina. From the Director. From your family."_

_She growls, "They're not my family anymore, North. Not after everything they've done."_

_"It shouldn't matter what they've done, Indiana," North's eyes harden, "You don't ever,_ **_ever_ ** _, turn away from family. No matter what."_

_Indi just glares right back, "So if let's say South were to ever do the most unspeakable, unforgivable thing to ever possibly do in the history of mankind, you would still love her?"_

_"Yes, I_ _would_ _," North puts his helmet back on and starts walking out, "Because no matter what happens, she's still my sister. So I'm not leaving. I won't force you to do anything you don't want to. I would never do that to you. But I'm seeing this until the end."_

~~~~~~~~~

**_"Are you there, Alpha? Are you there?"_ **

_"Yes, I-I'm here, I'm here. Hello? Don't lea- hey Counsellor, are you there?"_

**_"I am here."_ **

_"What... what happened? Is everybody okay?"_

**_"Perhaps you should ask the Director."_ **

_"Why? Does- does that mean something happened?"_

**_"Hello, Alpha."_ **

_"Director. Please, what is going on?"_

**_"There was another incident. Security failed."_ **

_"I gave you the schematics, they're just- they're too complex, I just need more time to work on them."_

**_"It's not your fault."_ **

_"How can you say that, of course, it is! Was anybody hurt?"_

**_"I am sorry. Yes. Washington, Indiana, and another died."_ **

_"Uhg,_ **_who_ ** _?"_

**_"I can't say."_ **

_"Who? Who died?"_

**_"Agent Texas--"_ **

_"_ **_No! Oah- oh my God, no!_ ** _"_

_The entire unit shakes, as we see the Counsellor and the Director watching the Alpha A.I. start to deteriorate on a monitor, his screams continuing to grow louder,_ **_"Oh- no, no! God,_ ** **_no_ ** **_!"_ **

_"That's too far, Gamma," the Director tells the A.I., Sigma flashing beside him to defend his brother with Omega at his side, too._

_"We need stronger stimulus. He'll break."_

_On the screen, the Alpha flashes and so the Counsellor turns to a couple of soldiers, "He's ready. Bring in the stasis unit."_

_"You three, log off," the Director tells the fragments._

_The other two fragments vanish but Sigma remains, "Director, I would like to see this part of the process."_

_"You can't get near the artifact, it's too dangerous. Your job is done. Log off."_

_"As you wish."_

_The burning A.I. disappears, but Sigma goes into the video camera rather than leaving, watching from afar._

_"Get us another memory unit. A new one. Don't let it touch anything else."_

_The doors to the room open and the Sarcophagus is wheeled in and opened, a multi-tentacled being emerging from the contents of the box the Freelancers recovered in the past._

_"Move all other equipment away from it," the Counsellor instructs the soldiers._

_The creature makes a questioning sound before the Director replies, "That's right it's broken. We broke it, and we need you to fix it, just like you've done before. Here take this," he offers the memory unit to the tentacle creature with a soothing voice, "Use this to fix it. Make it better; take away all that we broke, that's right. Put them in here."_

_Before long, there's a flash of blue light that ignites the whole room, then the light dims and the Counsellor nods, "It is done."_

_The Director picks up the new memory unit, holding it in his arms, "Welcome to the world, Epsilon. Today, is your birthday."_


	27. Remember Me How I Was

Grif had a sense of deja vu, standing on the outpost of Valhalla, right beside Simmons as a thought occurred to him, "Hey, Simmons?"

"Yeah?"

"You ever wonder why we're here?"

"You mean metaphysically?"

"No, I mean why are we going through all this trouble just to find one guy?"

"I don't know, he's evil or something?"

"Yeah, but so what, I don't have a problem with him."

"Yeah, but he's the one that started all this, you know? He's the reason that we have to deal with the Freelancers, and the A.I.s and the Meta, even Ghost. I mean when you think about it, he's the reason why we're here."

"Yep. He's a real dirtbag, alright," the echo of Sarge's voice causes the orange and maroon soldier to turn to see their leader walk through the tunnel to reach them, "But, even if he's six feet under, we'll still be in the same damn spot."

Simmons tilts his head, "Uh... Sir?"

"All I'm saying is we made it back to base in one piece and even found the rest of our team. So do you boys really think running off again will make things any better? 'Cause the way I see it, leavin' this place, is only gonna make things worse."

Grif hums when he ponders on those words, "I guess you have a point, Sarge."

"Shut up, Grif."

Wash, overhearing the Reds' conversation from the other side of the wall, lowers his head and walks away to find the others. He finds Ghost first, no surprise there, near the waterfall behind Blue base. She had her helmet off, giving him the opportunity to see how much she's changed in the years he hasn't seen her. She had earned a couple of small scars since Freelancer, including one placed over her jaw and another on the opposite cheek. Her hair was noticeably longer since the last time he's seen her without a helmet, now she had to pin it up in a bun unlike before where she just let it flow loosely since it was short just under her ears. Ghost hears him approach before she could see him, her hands covering her eyes when she washes her face with the cool, refreshing water. Standing up, she rubs her eyes and waits for him. Wash avoids looking directly at her when he walks towards her, "Tell me I'm not making a mistake."

Ghost raises a dark eyebrow, "So you want me to lie to you?"

Wash visibly stiffens and so Ghost tries retracting that statement, sighing, "Wait, I'm sorry. Okay? I'm sorry. But you already know how I feel about all of this. Following Carolina around, taking orders from her, finding the Director, chasing ghosts. Maybe Indiana would've wanted this, but I don't. I don't care about any of this anymore. All I care about now is the Reds and Blues. I'd do anything for them. But you knew all of this already, so why ask me to encourage you?"

He doesn't answer, Ghost watching his helmet as if she had x-ray vision before coming to her own theory, "Unless you're having doubts and you want me to lecture you on how all of this is a bad idea?"

"Why  _is_  it a bad idea? We're seeking justice for everything the Director's done to us."

"Justice and revenge are two very different things, Wash. And revenge is something I'm not too keen on risking the Reds and Blues lives for. If this was about getting justice, we'd leave the Director to the authorities, but we're not. Last time I checked, Carolina specifically asked Church for his help  _killing_  the Director," Wash doesn't reply and so Ghost reaches out to firmly grasp his shoulder, "Listen, I know you're a soldier. If anything you're the best kind of soldier. You follow orders and you get the job done, no matter what. But, Wash, I also know  _you_. Or at least, I used to. You were my best friend and I remember how much my best friend loved cats and skateboarding and got a grappling hook attached to his balls because he didn't want to end up like Georgia," when he snorts underneath his helmet, she takes that as a good sign to continue, "And that's the kind of idiot material the Reds and Blues would befriend against all odds. Take it from a Freelancer who's been their friend for years... I would much rather be the Reds and Blues' friend than be a soldier who follows orders  _any_  day."

~~~~~~~~~

Across the opposite side of the canyon, Carolina finds herself walking away from both bases after Church insisted on talking privately. She finds herself a considerable distance away from anyone before stopping in her tracks and staring at the thin air in front of her.

"Church, can't this wait?"

"No, it can't," Church appears right in front of her, "Carolina, the guys are terrified of you."

"What's your point?"

"My point is that they think you're a killer psychopath, and you can't be trusted. But I know they're wrong; I know why you're doing all of this. And I know you're not really crazy."

"Gee, thanks, Church," Carolina spoke sarcastically, "You certainly know how to make a girl feel special."

"What I don't know is what happened between you and Tex."

"I don't want to--"

" _You_  mentioned her name back on the island."

"What does Tex have to do with anything?"

"Well a lot, apparently, because every time I bring her up you act like you're gonna put your fist through something. And then you  _do_  sometimes."

"That's ridiculous, I don't--"

"Look, I understand you're angry, I'm angry too. The Director's a fucking dickhead, and we're gonna make him pay. But Tex was your friend, right?"

Carolina laughs almost disbelievingly, "My  _friend?_  Who the hell, gave you  _that_ idea?"

"Well,  _she_  did," Church continues even after Carolina turns to walk away, "Look, she was a total bitch, trust me; I know. But, she told me once she would have given anything to save you. I don't know what she meant exactly but, if you really wanna take down the Director, you gotta pull yourself together. You kno- you, you gotta let it go."

"You say that, like I'm sad she's gone, but I'm not. I hated her. I couldn't compete," Carolina mutters, her back still turned to him.

"That doesn't matter any more."

"But even  _she_  couldn't find the Director.  **Agent Texas** , "the best of the best." How the hell am I supposed to do what she couldn't?"

Church reappears in front of Carolina to make her look at him, "Carolina, if she was really the best, then  _she_ would be standing here right now. Not you. Let it go," he watches her helmet lower and he follows her gaze to something in her hand, "...What is that?"

"They're her dog tags," she responds while opening her fist to show the said tags in her palm, "Wash found 'em in the crash."

Church's voice grew suspicious, "Tex didn't wear dog tags."

Carolina is stunned by that realization and doesn't hesitate to scrub the dog tags clean of dirt and a USB-like connector pops up and she sees what they say:  **AGENT CONNECTICUT / 00572 84952-RT / BLOOD TYPE: O NEG** , "Connie?"

"It looks like some kinda data unit," Church mentions.

Carolina couldn't help the hopeful tone in her voice, "Can you tell me what's on it?"

"Only one way to find out. And hey, if I'm not out, in like three months? Don't bother coming and looking for me. Just, move on with your lives," when she doesn't respond he awkwardly adds, "Okay, I'm- I'm gonna go now."

~~~~~~~~~

**"Agent Texas. Allison. If you're reading this then that means I escaped. Or, well at the very least, I'm probably not around anymore. I want to leave behind all the data I've been collecting about Project Freelancer. I never could shake the feeling that something was wrong with the program. The secrets, the** **lies** **, the manipulation; smoke, all of it, obscuring a big damn fire. I did some digging, and now I know what the Director's been hiding. What he did. He broke the law, Allison. The one law they don't just slap you on the wrist for. I'm taking the originals with me as an insurance policy. I leave this copy for you not because you are the best soldier in the squad, but because I know that I can trust you the most. After reading these files you will understand why. Good luck. Your friend, Connie."**

~~~~~~~~~

"Carolina?" she turns around to see Church flickering on and off in front of her, "I know where to find the Director."

"What? How?"

Church's voice went grim, "I just remembered," he disappears for only a second, and then reappears full-size all on his own, "Everything."


	28. Change of Plans

_North couldn't find it within himself to go back to his room to sleep. It's been a week since Wash got his A.I. implantation and another few days since they took it out. And yet, he still hasn't woken up. Normally, North wouldn't be so worried and would've gone back to his room by now, but given that he and Indiana had a fight before Wash went in for surgery, he hasn't been exactly willing to go back, and not to mention after what happened in the training room with Carolina, North has been trusting the doctors less and less._

_So, he finds himself sitting there beside Wash for how many days in a row, nodding off every once in a while and even allowing Theta to entertain him in order to stay awake. But eventually, he knew Indiana would come around to check on Wash. According to his sister, Indi only comes to visit when she knows North is asleep, and it was actually starting to piss South off. So North decided to stay awake this time and wait until Indi would worry about Wash and come and check on him._

_And right on time, she waltzes in the door, her worried glance landing on Wash first before she finally got to the bed, then she stops altogether when she realized North was awake on the visitor's chair, staring right back at her through his helmet._

_"Hey."_

_"Hey," she whispers, still unable to break her gaze away from his helmet visor, her own helmet tucked under her arm. She looked as though she had hardly been sleeping either, dark bags blossoming under her green eyes, which made North wonder if she hadn't been back to their room since that argument either._

_Indi walks forward, finally breaking away from his gaze to stare at the unconscious soldier laying beside him, "Has he woken up at all yet?"_

_"Not since you asked South yesterday," North was able to hide his soft smile behind his helmet as a tiny blush crept over her ears, "Which by the way, she wanted me to tell you to fuck off."_

_"I tried, remember?"_

_North goes quiet after that, having thought about the subject more than he cared to admit. He had originally thought that Indiana would have just got up and left already. He was waiting until one morning he would hear about how she escaped on a Pelican, never to be heard again, but here she is. He didn't know if he was proud or worried and he voice that much, "Why didn't you leave?"_

_She lowered her head, her hand resting on the top of Wash's foot like it was the only thing to keep her from flying away; to keep her grounded. Well, maybe not the foot itself but Wash, North realized, was her best friend. He's done a lot for and with Indiana because they were inseparable. And she always worried about him, no matter how hard she tried not to._

_"Because I couldn't leave my family behind," she looked up and squinted her eyes at North, "And no, not Carolina and the Director. I don't care what you say, they're not my family. But..." she sucks in a sharp breath before letting it out slowly, "But you are. You and Theta and Wash and York and... everyone. The Freelancers I mean, or what's left of them. You're all my family and I wouldn't go anywhere without you. And... And if you didn't want to leave, then I wasn't going to force you to. You've always respected my wishes... the least I could do was respect yours."_

_North nearly sputters at that, feeling suddenly warm underneath his helmet and almost feeling like a twenty-year-old again. He had always been a caring individual to whoever he thought needed it. Whether it was South, Wash, York, or Theta, North was always the one to worry and care for them... But he couldn't remember the last time someone tried caring for **him**._

_The two stay there in silence, the only sound in the room being the monitors and Wash's unsteady breathing before North finally opened his mouth, "Tripp."_

_She looked up at him, eyebrow raised in question, "Huh?"_

_"My real name. It's Tripp Norman."_

_She laughs, and North decided that it was a good thing. Indi had tears brimming in her eyes but she refused to let them fall, her smile widening so much that it stretched painfully over her face. She walked around Wash's bed and over to North's chair, standing right in front of him to place a chaste kiss on the top of his helmet, North's hand running up her waist against his will._

_"What the fuck kind of a name is Tripp?" She giggled against his helmet, holding herself there even when North's armor shook when he laughed._

_"Not a good one, I'll give you that. I prefer North anyway."_

_"In that case, you can still call me Indi."_

_"No," he tilts his head up to look at her, his fond smile hidden under his helmet still, "You like your real name, I can tell. You're still tied to it. It's why you chose the codename, Indiana. Besides, I like Diana."_

_She nods, the smile softening to something fonder but otherwise, she doesn't say a word. She does break away from him, however, when the door slides open to the med bay and South enters without a word, just stomping and being pissy as always. As she enters, North sees movement out of the corner of his eye and stands up beside Indi, hearing Wash groan as he wakes up._

_"There you are," North praises softly, Indi not hesitating to leave his side and move to the opposite end of Wash's bed to draw herself closer to the gray and yellow armored soldier._

_Wash continues to groan like an animal in pain, looking around limply before finally sitting up, to which both Indi and North attend to him._

_North braces Wash's arm to try and slow his movements, "Slowly... slowly."_

_"Hey, buddy," Indi smiles softly, "Welcome back."_

_Wash's voice was low, "How long was I out?"_

_"Only a **few**  days this time," North answers._

_"This time?"_

_"Yup, after they removed it."_

_"Removed it?" Wash instantly reaches for the back of his neck, a tone of panic in his voice before groaning in pain from all the harsh movement._

_"It's gone. They're gonna remove all of them. They started with you," if Wash noticed the way North sounded sad with the news, he didn't say anything._

_"Yeah, thanks asshole. The whole process is on hold now."_

_"South, let it go," Indiana says sternly._

_Washington noticed the other bed that used to be occupied a few rows down, "What about Carolina?"_

_"Carolina's had it... kinda rough. The Director's considering sending her to hunt down Texas," North answers.  
_

_"Hunt her down?"_

_"She went rogue," South cuts in, hand on her hip, "Broke out of the facility in order to save her precious A.I. Little later we found Wyoming. Apparently, she tried to steal his A.I. unit. Tried to get his equipment, too."_

_"That hasn't been proven," North quickly defends as Indi only hangs her head in silence, "Besides, that doesn't sound like her."_

_"How would you know?" his twin snapped._

_"Just trust me, I know, and believe me, if she had done it, there wouldn't have been anything left of Wyoming to find."_

_"She's not a fucking monster, North."_

_Indiana's head spun to South, hissing in a mocking tone, "How would **you**  know?"_

_"You guys are giving me a headache," Wash moans as he clutches his head painfully, Indi gripping his wrist as he does so._

_North sighs, "Once they find Texas, they'll bring her back."_

_Almost immediately after he says this, the alarms sound overhead, causing him to look up at the ceiling for answers, FILSS' voice coming from all directions, **"Intruder alert. Intruder alert. Breach in Security. Level Zero."**_

_"Or, she'll come back on her own," North says with a little upbeat._

_"This isn't good," Indi tells them as she's listening into her own radio, her helmet now back on her shoulders, "They're saying it's her AND York... working together. What the fuck is going on?"_

~~~~~~~~~

"Let me get this straight," Tucker says while descending the stairs to the basement of Red Base, "You guys built an enormous room, capable of creating realistic holographic simulations, but you couldn't figure out how to walk across the canyon, to capture our flag."

"Actually Lopez built it," Grif grumbled.

"Okay, now that I believe."

"And, if you recall, we  _did_  manage to capture your flag? So you know, suck it Blue," Simmons gloats.

"Oh yeah, well our team has the most kills."

"Teamkills don't count, bluetard," Sarge snaps at Caboose.

"You don't make the rules."

"Technically Project Freelancer makes the rules," Wash pitches in, now standing closer to Ghost than he had in the past several days, his voice more cheerful than usual, "And I say, Blue Team gets to add both mine and Ghost's kill count to theirs."

Ghost huffs in amusement, "I second that."

"Lame," Grif comments.

"Listen up," everyone turns their heads to see Carolina approach, "We've got big news."

Caboose gasps excitedly, "You and Wash are taking your relationship to the next level. I knew it. The writing was all over the wall."

"No," everyone turns to find Church at a normal size now, the holographic chamber helping his form look more solid than translucent, his armor a Wyoming white, "We found the Director."

"Church! You're big again! What has she been feeding you?"

"You know where the Director is hiding?" Wash asks.

Carolina nods, "That's right."

Church projects some pictures of a location using the room to his advantage, "He's holed up in one of his off-site storage facilities. Similar to the ones we've seen before."

"But we have no idea what kind of modifications the Director may have made to the compound over the last few years."

"Or, if he has any sort of security with him."

"Essentially,  _we_  need to be ready for anything. So, let's go over the plan."

"What plan?" Tucker asks.

"The plan to take down the Director," Church answers.

Grif and Simmons exchange a look before the orange soldier speaks up, "Uh, I thought the plan was we help you  _find_  the Director."

"Yeah, and now we found him," Simmons looks around, "Good job everyone, way to hustle out there."

Carolina's voice drops, "The plan's changed."

"So then, what exactly  _is_  the plan?" Wash asks.

"Infiltrate the facility, and neutralize all hostiles."

"Right. What's  _our_  plan though?" Grif asks.

"That is your plan. I'm counting on all of you."

"But you said we were the worst soldiers you've ever met! And you were right; you're very perceptive."

"Look, I just need enough time to make it to the Director."

"So then we're just the distraction," Wash snaps.

"No, Wash, you're on lock duty, I need you with me."

Ghost turns to the Freelancer beside her, "Don't worry, Wash. I can back the others up--"

"The Director ruined your life, too," Carolina steps towards Ghost's direction, "And who knows what defenses he might have against you in particular. You're also coming with me."

Ghost turns back to the only other female in the room, letting the whole place fall into silence before her voice lowers in a wave of rising anger, "What."

"Uhm," Caboose says nervously, "We have to fight all the bad guys by ourselves."

"Fuck. That," Tucker comments.

Wash can agree with that statement, "Yeah, Carolina maybe Ghost and I should stick with the others--"

"Leave personnel decisions to me, Agent Washington," Carolina snaps.

"Look will you guys quit complaining, and do something for once?" Church rushes out with an annoyed tone.

Ghost growls, "But that's all  _you've_  been doing lately."

"Son, are you forgetting we  _saved_  your sorry ghost ass from the military?" Sarge is quick to reply.

Simmons agrees, "Yeah, we almost died trying to find you."

"Oh, boo hoo. Why don't you come back when you're on your second or third life," Church snaps back, "Then we'll compare notes."

" **Wow.**  Fuck off, Blue," Grif turns and starts walking away.

Carolina is quick to stop him, "Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm goin' home."

Church is practically simmering, "Oh, that's great Grif. You know, we could always count on you to duck out when there's work to do."

"Well, you can count me out, too."

Carolina and Church both turn to Sarge, both stunned by his words, "What?"

"Don't get me wrong. Bustin' into a military base on a rescue mission's a lot of fun. But I'm not gettin' turned into swiss cheese, just so the two of you can finish some personal vendetta. This ain't our fight."

"Took the words right out of my mouth, Sir," Simmons agrees.

"Both of you,  **be quiet,** " Carolina hisses.

Tucker speaks up, too, "Dude, this is bullshit."

" _Tucker?_ " Church voices in disbelief.

Carolina creeps forward until she's right in front of Tucker, voice rising, "Be, quiet!  **That's an order.** "

"Well, guess what psycho, I don't take orders from you anymore."

"Well, what about now?"

Ghost sees the familiar glint of a gun in Carolina's hand and her heart drops to her stomach, time slowing as she takes a step forward without thinking, "NO! Tucker, watch out-!"

Carolina points her gun at Tucker, and it only takes a split second for Wash to act before Ghost, his mind finally made up. Just as Ghost was about to throw herself in front of Tucker and in front of Carolina's gun, Carolina feels the familiar press of metal against the temple of her helmet.

"Don't. Do that."

The whole room is stunned at how stern and protective Wash sounded, his own gun tightly trained on Carolina's head, his only train of thought was to keep her from shooting Tucker, and now technically Ghost as she's now standing in front of him as a way to shield him.

Carolina shakes off the shock factor and lowers her voice, "Wash, what are you doing?"

"Protecting my friends. Now lower the weapon."

Carolina does so, with a hiss in her voice, "You're siding with them?"

"Wash, I don't understand," Church explodes, "We found the Director. We can make him pay.  _This is what we wanted._ "

Washington finally lowers his gun, turning to glare at Epsilon, the only person he truly blames for what happened to him, his voice grave and grim, "All I want is for you to leave. I've already been responsible for enough of their problems in the past, and I'll be damned before I let you cause any more."

Wash directs this last statement towards Carolina, the former Freelancer leader suddenly quiet as he walks over to stand among the Reds and Blues.

Church's spin towards the other female Freelancer almost made her dizzy, "Ghost! Come on. YOU would want this more than anything."

"No."

"What?"

"No, I  _don't_  want this," Ghost backs away slowly, her voice breaking out of anger, "YOU want this. It's always been you, Church. It's always been what YOU want, not what I want, because you never gave a damn!"

"Woah, you're turning this on ME?" He squeaks, "This is all the Director's fault!"

"Think about it, asshole. You have the Director's memories. Enlighten me as to why I would want to  _kill my own brother!_ "

"Because of him, North is dead! Most of your friends are dead!"

Ghost takes a deep breath, counting to three before responding with clenched fists, "You know, if there's one thing I learned from North, is that you NEVER turn on your family, no matter how many times they hurt you."

"Oh, yeah?" The venom was clear in Church's voice, the tone almost mocking Ghost, "Well, advice like that got North KILLED. His own sister fed him to the wolves."

"Which is exactly what YOU and this BITCH would be doing to our friends if you allow them to get KILLED for YOUR petty revenge!" Ghost suddenly screams, causing poor Caboose to flinch, "She didn't even hesitate to point her gun at my best friend! So, sorry, but not sorry. You can count me out!"

She moves back to stand next to Tucker, the aqua soldier secretly touched that she considered him her best friend but would never voice that much out loud as now everyone was pinned against Carolina and Church, the former leader of the Blues none too pleased.

"So that's it, you're just gonna turn your back on us."

Wash tries reasoning, "Epsilon, I know that it--"

"No, no, you're right. You know, I guess I should've seen that one coming. It's not exactly like you're, new to the concept, is it?"

"That's a little harsh," Sarge muttered.

"But you guys?" Church turned to the Reds and Blues, "After all the shit you've put me through? I really thought at least  _you_  would have my back."

Grif nearly squeals in protest, " **Us?! What the hell did we do?** "

As Church begins to explode with a whole list he's been categorizing, he grows to immense size and turns red, towering over the rest of them, "You shot me in the head, you put a bomb in my gut, you killed me with my own damn tank, and that's just how we met!"

"Church calm down, what's your problem?" Tucker snaps.

" _You're_  my problem! You've  _always_  been my problem! Each and every one of you, is just a problem, that I have to deal with, on a daily basis!"

The whole room falls silent, only Church's energy humming against the metal walls. The silence was so heavy with so many emotions, no one saying a word. Tucker is the first to move, moving away from Ghost and leaving, Wash following his movements.

Church realizes what he just did and what he just said, slowly shrinking back down to size with guilt in his voice, "Guys..."

Sarge turns away from Church, giving the Reds a head nod then he walks away, too, Grif and Simmons exchanging a silent conversation between them before following their leader.

"Guys, u- wait a minute."

Wash moves to follow the others out, Ghost ready to go with him, but they both hang back a second to wait for Caboose.

Church's gaze meets said soldier's, voice softening at the sight of him, a tone of hope lacing with said guilt, "Caboose..."

For a moment, Caboose looks as though he was going to stay, and Church had never wanted anything more than that at that moment. But that hope slowly dies when Caboose slowly starts to back away, turning around and walking towards the stairs, following the rest of his friends.

Words fail Church while watching Caboose leave, Carolina going to stand beside him, her voice broken, "Forget it, Church. We don't need them."

Wash turns to her, "I don't know what's gotten into you Carolina, but you'd better figure out the difference between your enemies, and your friends."

Ghost also turns to her after Wash begins to walk away, "I hope you're happy, Carolina. You go ahead and keep pushing everyone away as you did to  _York_."

"Diana, wait, I'm sorry," Church almost whispers.

Ghost turns to glare at him hard, "Wow. That's a new one. Do me a favor,  _Epsilon_  and NEVER call me that again. Diana's dead... because of  _you_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... yeah, that happened. As the story continues, I feel so much better at writing and discussing Ghost's story. And I really love how mature and normal Indi's and North's relationship falls into. It just feels natural to me and I hope as readers, you guys can see it, too :)


	29. Party Crasher

**_"Intruder Alert. Intruder Alert. Breach in Security. Level Zero."  
_ **

_"Well, I'm not gonna just sit here while that bitch attacks us!" South snaps while rushing out of the med bay._

_"South, wait!" North reaches out to grab her arm, but he was too late and she was already long gone. He stands up and starts going after her before Indi stands from Wash's bed and grabs his arm._

_"North--"_

_North ignores the warning in her voice, "Stay here with Wash."_

_He runs out of the room and Indi turns back to look at Wash, who was sitting up in bed and sharing the same worry on his face now that his helmet was taken off._

~~~~~~~~~

_In another room on the Mother of Invention, Tex is kicking ass using spike grenades as melee weapons. It doesn't take long for her to finish all of the soldiers off, and then the huge doors open, revealing South, who walks in with a giant cannon in her hands._

_"You think you're so fucking tough, don't you Texas. Well, let me ask you something. Who's the monster now, bitch?"_

_"Aw, shit," Tex mutters and breaks into a run._

_South begins to fire a lot of missiles at Tex, the black armored Freelancer able to dodge, run and jump away from each one unscathed. Before she could catch her breath, South then shoots several missiles all at once, Tex is frozen with nowhere to go, doomed to blow up before she could even complete the mission._

_Suddenly, two sniper rifles fire into the air and no-scope each missile with a perfect bullseye, causing them to blow up in the air before they even touch Texas. South looks over her shoulder and Tex turns to see North standing before them, two sniper rifles in his hands, propping them on his shoulders._

_"Well hello, ladies. What seems to be the problem?"  
_

_"North, you know what the problem is!" South yells, "This bitch stabbed us in the back, and now it's time to return the favor. Whose side are you on, brother?"_

_North didn't even hesitate to aim his rifles again, this time, at his own sister, "Tex, take a walk; I need to have a little chat with my sister."_

_"North, you sure?" Tex hesitates._

_"Go, this is a family matter," North speaks with slight ice in his voice._

_Tex walks away without another glance, and before North could let a word out, he noticed South shift the cannon in her hand and he automatically throws up a dome shield all around him just as one of his sister's missiles hit._

~~~~~~~~~

_"I don't like this," Wash states as he watches Indi pace in front of his bed, "There are missiles going off inside the ship for sure. I recognize that sound. And... wait, does that sound like a tank to you?"_

_"That's what I was afraid you'd ask me," Indi admits while the floor shook slightly to the sound of explosions going off in the distance._

_"You should go and grab the others. They might be fighting each other. Someone could get hurt-!"_

_"I know that, Wash!" Indi snapped as she spun around to glare at him, "But they are perfectly capable without me!"_

_"Well, so am I!"_

_Before Indiana could reply with something she might regret, the entire ship shakes with so much momentum, Indi even loses her balance and falls to her knees, hands reached out in front of her to stop the landing. The explosions continue, but more violently and causing the walls to shake._

_"What was **that**?" Wash almost had to yell over the sounds of the battle," That was definitely not a tank! Are we being attacked?!"_

_Indiana rushes to one of the data screens and touches a button, only to see the many warning signs and evacuation protocols FILSS made herself, "It's the ship's own ammunition. The system was hacked and now we're firing at ourselves!"_

_"That must be York! He's okay!" Wash's delight was cut off by another violent shake of the ship, the lights now flickering on and off, "You need to go after them! They're gonna kill each other!"_

_"I'm not leaving you here by yourself!"_

_"I'll be fine," Wash frowns, grabbing his helmet and throwing it on, "See? Melon's protected now GO!"_

_She curses, punching the data screen and causing it to crack. She unhinges one of her knives and stomps over to Wash's bed, tossing her weapon in the air and catching it by the blade. She holds out the handle part to him and he grabs it without hesitation._

_"Keep your comms open at all times," she orders him._

_"I got it. Just go and keep my friends from tearing themselves apart."_

_Indiana races out of the room without looking back, afraid that she would stay if she did. Grabbing a fallen soldier's rifle, she flings it over her shoulder and takes out another knife hidden from within her armor, checking around the corners of the hallway and always watching her six to make sure no one was creeping behind her. She didn't know what her plan was to keep all the Freelancers from killing one another, but she had a few tricks up her sleeve that she hoped would work._

_But first, she needed to find the Director._

_Running down the hallways, most of the ship was deserted since all of the fightings was centered wherever the Freelancers might be fighting. Indiana knew her best shot of stopping all of this was to find the Director and force Carolina to take action. Maybe, just maybe, if everyone got what they wanted, they wouldn't accidentally kill their own friends._

_She noticed that her speed was slowing down and her legs weren't carrying her where she wanted to go when she passed by one of the computer systems flashing a red warning sign in the hallway. When she read the words GRAVITY DISENGAGED, her entire body was already floating up towards the ceiling._

_"Dammit, York!" She said while aiming her head towards a security camera nearby like her lockpick friend could see her, "I'm trying to help here!"_

_Luckily for her, she had finally gotten her gravity boots reassembled and she could walk freely back down on solid ground to continue her search, now running past several floating guards and staff members of the MOI._

_She now hated the fact that the Mother of Invention was so big since it felt like it was taking Indiana forever to find the Director or **anyone**  she knew at this point. She hadn't seen the twins yet, or Carolina, or Tex, or Maine, or York, or Wyoming. It's like they all just... vanished. _

_Before she could even get that thought out, her gravity boots give in to an even greater force and she's thrown back to a wall behind her. Grunting in pain from the sudden impact, she recognizes an observation window in front of her and struggles to get to it, but it felt like gravity was weighing down on her and forcing her back up the wall, causing her to fall to the ground and crawl all the way to the window, the air pressure suddenly popping her ears and making her legs feel like jelly. Once she makes it to the window, she pulls herself up and peers out, seeing fire all around the ship as the metal begins to heat up while entering a planet's atmosphere at increasing speed. The Mother of Invention was falling._

_"Shit," Indiana muttered as she tried running back to a separate hallway, trying to get as much distance between her or any window in the facility as best as she could so she wouldn't be flung out like a passenger in a car without a seatbelt._

_Indi was just able to grab a nearby pillar as she's thrust up in every direction, causing her to scream out and potentially let go at such a force when the ship finally crashed landed, the metal screaming at the impact and collapsing all around her. Indi's entire body crashes into all four different walls as the ship starts to slow and slide to a stop. When she finally stopped moving, Indi couldn't find it within herself to get back up just yet. Opening her eyes, she groans when she feels the sudden weight of a metal pillar pinning her down to the floor, the ceiling on fire above her and the air felt dense. Clawing for breath, she tries lifting the pillar off of her and was able to lift it off her body but it was too heavy to move. She couldn't hold it up any longer and so the pillar came back down with a much harsher force when she let go of it, a pained grunt escaping her lips._

_As Indi continues to struggle with her position, she tries tapping into comms, "Anyone there? Wash? Anybody? This is Agent Indiana. I am trapped and in need of assistance."_

_Only static comes through her radio and for a moment, she fears that everyone is dead before the radio is suddenly run by chaos. Everyone on board is shouting at each other through comms, demanding reports and if anyone was injured and needed saving. Checking her HUD, Indiana realized that she could hear everyone else but they couldn't hear her, and among the panicked soldiers radioing in, she could hear one say, "The med bay is gone! There's no way anyone survived that!"_

_Indi's blood ran cold and her throat went dry. She wants to scream and demand that someone should at least **check**  to see if there were any survivors instead of just assuming! Wash was bedridden for Christ's sake! He couldn't possibly run out to get help himself! With panic settled in her mind and adrenaline in her blood, Indiana was able to push all of the debris off of her, scooting out of the rubble and watching as it all collapsed behind her. Groaning in pain, she crawled out of the room to avoid the fire and rising smoke, finding a hole in the haul of the ship nearby. Crawling out, Indi pushes herself up when she felt snow underneath her gloves. She only looks at her surroundings for a moment before leaning against the outside of the ship while trying to fix her radio, her voice now more frightened sounding than full of authority._

_"Hello?? Is anyone there? This is Agent Indiana! I need medical help now! Wash?? Wash, are you okay? I told you to keep comms open! Hello?! Anyone! Help! WASH?! NORTH?!"_

_~~~~~~~~~_

**_"Hey, there."  
_ **

_"Huh? Oh, uh, hello. Who're you?"_

**_"You don't know me?"_ **

_"Oh, sorry, I'm just I'm... tired. I'm really tired. Um, my name is uh... It's uh..."_

**_"Your name is Alpha. You're Church."_ **

_"Right, Church, that's me. And you are?"_

**_"Let's just say we used to be together."_ **

_"Oh. Okay."_

_**"I need you to come with me."** _

_"Oh, I don't think I can but, thanks. I think I'm just gonna, stay here, you know, and rest."_

_**"You don't wanna leave?"** _

_"Ah, I just I don't think I can."_

_**"Okay. Maybe you just rest then."** _

_"Yeah, bu- what was your, n- what was your name, your name again?"_

_**"...It's Texas."** _

_"Texas, like the State?"_

_**"Yeah."** _

_"Funny name for a girl."_

_**"Well, Church is a pretty funny name for a guy."** _

_"Yeah, I guess you're right."_

_**"You gave me this name, you know."** _

_"I wonder why I did that."_

_**"Well, maybe if you think about it, it'll come to you."** _

_"Yeah. Hey I'm, I'm gonna rest now, but thanks for comin' by."_

_**"Okay, you rest. Church?"** _

_"Yeah?"_

_**"Goodbye."** _

_"Huh. I don't know why but, I hate goodbyes."_

_**"...Me, too."** _

_"Okay, see ya... crazy State-name lady."_

_**"Goodbye."** _

_~~~~~~~~~_

_Tex watches as the words PROGRAM ALPHA: SESSION COMPLETE appears on the screen of the data simulation with a heavy feeling in her chest that wouldn't go away. Looking out over the broken glass and harsh blizzard, she sees Maine, marching through the deep snow towards Carolina, whose body is laying limp just before the edge of a cliff. Texas feels something wrong happening and hurries to get outside._

_Indiana has finally willed herself to her feet, groaning in pain as her muscles screamed in protest. At the bare minimum of injuries, her ankle might be sprained, and she might have a few cuts and bruises. Indi hasn't taken her helmet off yet but she can feel liquid going down her face, so she can assume her head is bleeding. Limping towards the front of the ship, her heating unit kicks in as the unforgivable wind nearly blows her away, causing her to guide herself using her hand to lean against the side of the Mother of Invention as she walked. When she gets to the nose of the ship, she sees Maine's white armor in the distance and sighs in relief. Limping towards him, she could make out Carolina's armor as well and assumed Maine was going to help her up and check her injuries._

_She should've noticed something was wrong by the time Maine reached Carolina, the Freelancer leader struggling to get up but fails just as Maine picks her up by the neck, "What are you doing?"_

_Indiana froze as she watches Maine tear off Carolina's helmet and forcefully push her hair aside to get to the roots of her implants, hidden just behind her neck. Indi's bones practically shivered when Carolina released a scream that no one should even be able to make, the blood-curdling scream ripping through the blizzard winds and metal walls of the ship nearby._

_Maine opens his palm to reveal Eta and Iota's chips from Carolina's implants. He clutches onto them tightly before looking up at Carolina, gripping her neck one last time and throwing her off the cliff._

_"NOOOO!" Texas screams as she ran forward, unable to make it time as Carolina falls to her death._

_"MAGGIEEEE!" Indi finds herself screaming at the top of her lungs, her own voice drowned out by the wind._

_Tex turns silent as she looks back to see the Director and Counsellor still aboard the beached ship, having watched the whole scene with stoic faces. Tex turns back to watch Maine put his helmet back on and almost purrs when his A.I., Sigma, is joined by two other fragments, Eta and Iota._

_Texas runs before she could even think about what to do next. She runs away before she is taken, Sigma watching her disappear into the snow, "You run, Agent Texas. We are the Meta. We will find you... very soon."_

_Indiana watches as Maine slowly turns his helmet towards her direction and she breaks into a staggering run in the opposite direction, breathing leveled heavily as she didn't know where to go or what to do. She just knew she had to get out of there and fast._

_Meanwhile, North was carrying South on his back through the empty halls towards the hangar, hearing the cold winds outside echo down the dark tunnels now that the lights have gone out, "_ _Hey... pretty good with that missile pod."_

_The hallway grows quiet again before South mutters from leaning on his shoulder, "Yeah, I'd be even better without you using two sniper rifles. Cheater."_

_"Okay, don't get a big head. You're still my little sister," North reaches the hangar deck doors and waits a moment before the big entrance slowly opens for them, then he's back to walking, "Come on, let's get out of here. Hey, I've got your back; always."_

_"And I'm watching yours."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember the part when Ghost told Wash that if he had come with her after Sidewinder that he would have died, too? Hmm I wonder what could that possibly mean


	30. Reckless

"Well, this is depressing."

Grif has been saying the exact same thing for about a dozen different times, and Simmons hates to admit it but he agrees with him. For the last dozens of times, losing their flag to the Blues and the Freelancers was just as depressing as the time before. And what was worse... it felt like Blood Gulch again.

"Can it, Private," Sarge muttered 

"What? I'm just saying what we're all thinking."

"You didn't say you were fat and worthless, and we were  _definitely_  all thinkin' that."

Tucker, from the top of the Blue base, looks down on all of the Reds with Wash at his side, "Alright, you know the drill."

Simmons groans, stepping forward, "Do we have to?"

"That depends, how badly do you want your flag back?" Wash asks.

Ghost was trying to be more lighthearted and teasing in order to brighten the mood everyone was feeling, "I might tear it up and wear a strip of it on my arm like a trophy. Think it'll match the colors of my armor?" She says while flashing her shoulder to show off the lime green and dark purple accents.

"That is an insult to fashion and you know it! Everyone knows you're not supposed to clash cold colors with hot colors!" Donut proclaims with an offended gasp.

Simmons looks to Grif, pleading behind his helmet, but the oranger soldier doesn't let up, "Don't look at me, it's your turn."

Simmons sighs, listing all of the terms the Blue team has given him like a robot reading a script, and technically that  _is_  what's happening, "I would just like to let everyone know that I suck, and that I'm a girl..."

"You know, it was funny the first few times, but this  _is_  starting to get depressing," Tucker tells Wash who just slumps his shoulders and sighs.

"Yeahhh."

"...and I like ribbons in my hair, and I want to kiss all the boys."

"Hey, what else have you got?"

"Nothing!" Grif yells back at them from across the two bases, "That stupid flag was the only thing we had left!"

Yeah, after the Blues took everything in the canyon including the carrot cake Donut and Doc cooked, the Reds are getting a little peeved about the stupid game they've agreed to play for the rest of their time in this canyon.

"Actually, there's still  _one_  thing you still haven't taken," Simmons adds while looking at Grif expectedly before throwing the Meta's knifle onto the ground.

"Whoa!" Tucker yells.

Ghost whistles.

"Great ginsu gun show!" Sarge exclaims.

"Is that what I think it is? Is that,  _whose_  I think it is?" Wash asks with wonder in his voice since he's always wondered what had happened to Maine's weapon since his death.

"Stolen alien weaponry used by the scariest fucking mute in the galaxy? Yeah, pretty much," Simmons confirms.

"How the Hell did you even get that? Maine never just leaves that lying around!" Ghost gapes.

"It's like, half knife, half rifle. What would you call that?" Sarge wonders.

Tucker grins, "I don't know, but we'll take it."

"No, there is no way I'm giving up the Grif Shot!" Grif growls.

Ghost snorts, "The Grif Shot?"

"Oh, please, what were you gonna do, eat off it?" Tucker mocks.

"Uh, actually dickhead, I asked Donut to mount it for me in the base?"

"And you know I can't resist a good mounting," Donut chimes in.

Washington splutters while trying to find the right words, his voice rising, "You've been hiding one of the most advanced pieces of technology known to man, so you can hang it, in your living room?"

Grif looks around at everyone before landing back at Wash, "Well, when you say it like that it sounds dumb."

"That's because it  _is_  dumb!"

"I think it's kinda cool," everyone turns to watch Doc approach, "I mean, when I met you guys, all you did was stand around and talk. But now you can't walk five feet without getting wrapped up in some crazy adventure."

"What's your point?" Sarge grunts.

"I don't know; I just thought it was cool. I mean, come on, you guys've been through a lot together. Don't you want something to remember all the good times?"

Tucker splutters, "The  _good_  times - I was stranded in the desert!"

"We were almost killed!" Simmons screeches.

Sarge growls, "I learned my entire military career was a lie!"

"And I got shot!" Donut exclaims, not noticing Wash inching away from him and whistling soundly.

Ghost huffs, "And I found out that the real Diana Church was killed in action during the Great War nearly thirty years ago, and I'm just a clone, and after I watched everyone on my Freelancer team die, the Director took away my memories and stuffed me in a box canyon with all of you morons!"

Everyone looks at her silently but Sarge says what they were all thinking, "...Okay, you win."

"Okay, yeah, it wasn't perfect, but look what you all got out of it," Doc points out.

"You mean the rifle-knife?"

"You mean the Grif Shot," Grif corrects.

"Sure there's that, but Sarge, you finally got to lead an actual military operation. And Tucker, you learned how to use your sword like a pro!"

"Bow chicka bow wow?"

Doc looks at Wash, "You found a new team, Simmons got back his old team, Ghost found a family, I finally managed to keep a patient from dying--"

"And in return, I didn't die," Donut perks up.

"You see, in the end, we all worked together, and everyone got what they wanted."

"Not everyone."

Grif is the first to spot Caboose for the first time, not even remembering the last time he spoke up as the Blue lowers his head to avoid everyone's eyes. Simmons and Sarge exchange a look along with Ghost and Wash. Tucker thinks to himself for a long time before drawing his sword and stepping up.

"You realize that if you go after them, there's no promise you'll come back. This isn't a game to the Director. He plays for keeps," Wash tells him.

Sarge steps up next, "Ah well, this place was gettin' kinda stale anyways."

"After everything Church and Carolina said, the way they treated you..."

"Hey, we gave  _you_  a second chance," Simmons steps forward.

"Besides, if we quit every time Church started shouting, this shit would have been over a long time ago," Grif adds while joining his friends, knifle in his hands.

Wash continues to try and acknowledge the outcome, "We'll be out-gunned, we'll be out... everythinged. This is stupid. Just think for a minute before you do anything reckless."

"Son, stupid and reckless is how we  _always_  get things done."

"But, Sarge I--"

"No! There's one thing you Freelancers always seem to forget: that's the fact that we manage to kick your ass time and time again. Oh sure you've got all your smart plans and your fancy technology and yer fancy training, but in the end, what has that got ya? Without a team you can count on, without your fellow soldier by your side, all that really doesn't amount to squat, now does it? So instead of standing there bellyachin' all day, just tell us, are you gonna keep playin' it safe?" he pauses to load his shotgun, "Or do you wanna get a little reckless?"

Wash looks at the shotgun before looking at all the others, "This has to be the worst idea,  _ever_... but you can count me in," the last part was said so fondly that Ghost had to do a double-take because she could have sworn she heard the old Wash in there somewhere.

"Me, too!" Donut chimes.

Caboose perks up, "Yes- and me! Oh, Church is gonna be so happy!"

Doc steps forward, "I am, too!"

Everyone turns to Ghost, the only one who hasn't said anything yet. Looking at each and every one of them, Ghost sighs and unhinges a certain knife Wash noticed she had been hiding from him all this time. It was  _North's_  knife.

Ghost mutters the next words while staring down at the blade, "I can't stop you guys... but I  _can_  make sure you don't accidentally kill yourselves and perpetually kill my only friends. So I'm in."

"Man, this is gonna be so cool; I love how inclusive you guys have become. I'm gonna go pack my medical gear for the trip. Ooh, don't rock the zealot!" Doc exclaims while going back inside the base.

Simmons ponders for a moment, "Uh, guys? They've got a huge head start. How're we supposed to reach them in time?"

As if God had answered their prayers, three airships drop down in an ambush, surrounding them from all sides as one airship pilot yells through a megaphone,  _"Freeze! This is an ambush! You are under arrest for the theft of UNSC property."_

"What? We really are wanted criminals of the UNSC?"

"Holy shit, Wash was right?" Grif exclaims.

"Oh, you've gotta be fucking kidding me," Wash muttered. 

_"Surrender now, you are outnumbered! Uh well, technically you're not really outnumbered I think, I think we have the same number, uh, it's like one-to-one. But we do have airships! Fast, easy to pilot airships. Which we will now land, in order to take you to jail."_

Sarge and Wash exchange looks before aiming their guns and a few moments later, Tucker is piloting one airship with Ghost and Caboose in the back. Grif is piloting the second with Donut and Simmons in the back, and Wash piloting the third with Sarge in the back.

"Goodbye, people we stole these planes from!" Caboose waves.

_"Mother fucker!"_

"Man, this is awesome!" Donut exclaims, "Hey, Simmons, who's the blue guy with the yellow accents? His voice sounds familiar."

"Ohhhh, right. Funny story about that."

~~~~~~~~~

"This is it."

"Ready to meet your maker?"

"I've got your back, Carolina."

Carolina and Epsilon go through the teleporter they found in the warehouse, and what they find on the other side drives Church to freeze.

"Oh, no..."

"Church? What is this?"

"He kept trying. He kept trying to get her right," he deflates in horror.

Carolina tries keeping her voice from wavering, "You think these things are anything like the real deal?"

A whole army of Texas punch their hands and loosen their necks, one of them speaking in the O'Malley's voice that gives Church a blast from the past, "You have no idea what kind of trouble you are in," it--  _she_  laughs.


	31. True Colors

Church can only sit in Carolina's head and watch as she stresses herself out and fights all of the Texas' without letting up and then she's beaten down and thrown into the floor, the past voices of everyone berating her about her competitive side regarding Texas haunting her thoughts. Church's voice is laced with worry as he tries encouraging her, "Come on,  **get up**."

Carolina groans, almost a broken sob escaping her lips as all the Texas clones surround her from all sides, "She was right. I can't do this. I can't... beat her. I could never, beat her."

Tex's voice stutters from her voice changer then O'Malley's before returning to her normal voice, "B-b-b-better luck next time, C-ttt-Carolina."

As they say this, three plasma grenades stick to the heads of three random of the clones, Carolina's head whips around to see Donut retract his arm and bring out his gun, "Nine points, you dirty whores!"

Carolina doesn't think twice before rolling out of the way just before the plasma grenades explode, the blast of blue fire sending Carolina tumbling forward as she lands lying down, groaning in pain and exhaustion. Looking around, she sees the armored feet of orange and what used to be Church's blue surrounding her.

"Get up."

Carolina looks up at the offered hand and takes it, being able to stand back up once Wash helped her, "What are you doing here?"

"I told you, they're not so bad once you get to know 'em," Wash has that exact I-told-you-so sound in his voice as he offers Carolina a pistol. When she takes it, she looks around at all the Reds and Blues, armored up and facing on the many clones of Tex... even Ghost was here. 

"Oh," Church appears next to Tucker, "I thought this wasn't your fight?"

"Come on, overwhelming odds with little to no chance of success? How could we resist?" Sarge explains.

"You got a problem with that, Church?" Tucker snaps.

"Guys... I'm an asshole."

Ghost snorts, "Yeah? No shit."

"I admit it, and I will gladly accept any and all smartass remarks after this is all over. But I would like to point out the fact, that we're standing in a room full of crazy, Freelancer robots that are ready to completely and utterly fuck our shit up."

Tucker couldn't help the smirk he had been fighting back through Church's confession, "So, cheesy forgiveness speech later?"

Sarge huffs, "Yeah, that sounds good."

"Lock and load, people," Carolina orders while loading her pistol.

Everyone draws and raises their weapons in a nice row of reds and, well, blues. Simmons lifts a grenade launcher over his shoulder, Sarge with his shotgun and Grif with his Grif Shot, Donut, and Wash with their automatics, Ghost with her large assortment of knives and Tucker with his sword. Caboose, at the end of the line-up, however, is facing the wrong direction as Church appears over his shoulder like a guardian angel.

"Caboose? I need you to get a little angry, okay buddy?"

"Okay. Yeah, I don't remember how to do that."

Church couldn't help the smug tone in his voice, "I do."

Church enters Caboose's armor and Caboose barely gives any warning before charging into the Tex lines like a raging bull. He starts fucking their shit up as he takes out dozens of the Tex clones before stopping and looking around, "My name is Michael J. Caboose. And I..." he hits one Tex with his gun, "Hate..." he does an uppercut on one before dropkicking half a dozen others, before taking one and swinging her around and knocking the others out altogether, "Taxes."

"It's  _Texas_ , you idiot," Grif calls outs.

"That, too," Caboose adds before firing aimlessly around the room.

"Come on, everyone now's our chance!" Wash calls over the gunfire, everyone starting to charge forward with their respective weapons.

Sarge sounds as though he's about to cry or possibly die happily, probably because he's always wanted to do this, "For our ancestors' ancestors!  **Attack!** "

They advance forward, with Caboose just running down Texas after Texas like a linebacker and Carolina doing her thing with her martial arts. Tucker slash, slash and stabs with Wash firing off his gun right beside him. Ghost rolls over Grif's back when he ducks down to avoid a punch, Ghost grabbing Texas' fist and driving a knife through her arm once she was wide open to it. 

"Donut, look out!" Sarge yells off to the side as one Texas pursues Donut when she realizes he's out of ammo.

"Oh no! Wuah!" Donut ducks down to protect himself but is suddenly covered by Wash, who hits Tex with the butt of his gun and shooting her when she falls down.

"Okay, we're done here."

Ghost is struggling with one Tex locking her arms down while another punches her stomach. Ghost grunts while shouting over the gunfire, "Tucker! Little help here!"

"I'm on it!" Tucker is suddenly seen sticking one Tex with the pointy end of his sword while Ghost uses the leverage to flip over Tex's shoulders - the one that was holding her down- and stabs her through the neck. Tucker glances over when Texas falls to the floor and pretends to tip a hat to Ghost, "My lady."

Ghost scoffs, "Don't flatter yourself."

Two of the clones knock Grif down and hold his legs wide open, three other clones jumping up into the air with their fists out, and Grif waits for the worst pain ever. However, this time he's saved by Carolina, who kicks through the three clones about to punch him in the balls and so the other two Tex clones let go of Grif to pursue her. They knock her down, but this time Carolina lets Tucker turn them into a kabob on his sword while she continues fighting. Grif struggles to stand up just as two clones punch and kick him in the balls anyway, sending him flying into the air.

He lands right next to Tucker as his legs wobble while standing up, "Not again!"

"Oh, come on, you had to see that coming," Tucker mocks.

Everyone except Caboose forms a circle, back to back while fighting off the remaining clones, but there just appeared to be more and more of them coming, and Simmons voices what they're all thinking, "Not working, there's too many of them!"

"Epsilon, do you remember how the Alpha was able to stop the Meta?" Wash asks as the A.I. appears right next to him.

"Yeah, but, that was one guy. Not a hundred."

"There's only one Tex. And Church, nobody knows her like you."

"Alright. Stand back, everybody. This is gonna get a little... personal."

Ghost knocks one Tex down before turning to Epsilon, "...Do me a favor? Tell her I said hi. Tell her  _Diana_  says hi."

Church splits up into many more versions of himself, and with one, bright light, he vanishes and the fighting suddenly appears to stop when he enters the minds of all the Texas clones.

~~~~~~~~~

**"Hey, there."**

"Huh? Who the hell are you?"

**"You don't... you don't know me?"**

"Oh, s- uh s- I'm sorry I'm just really  _tired_  and- I'm really tired. I'm, I- my name's..."

**"Your name is Allison. You're Tex."**

"Right, right um, Tex, that's me. And you're?"

**"Let's just say we... we used to be close."**

"Oh. Okay."

**"I need you to rest now, Tex."**

"Oh, rest, yeah. I'd like that."

**"I thought you might. By the way? Diana says hi."**

"Who's Diana?"

**"You probably don't remember her. She died a long time ago... but she was your sister-in-law."**

"Hmmm..."

**"Look I have to go now but, you just rest, okay? Goodbye."**

"Weird. I don't know why, but I hate goodbyes."

**"I know why. Goodbye."**

~~~~~~~~~

Church fades back into the real world, where all the Tex clones deactivate and fall over, collapsing all around the Reds and Blues.

"Uh, you know you could have done that before I got punched in the nuts by twenty of them at once," Grif snaps.

"Yeah, but where's the fun in that?" Tucker teases when Church didn't have a comeback.

"Nice goin' there Church," Sarge praises, "I guess sometimes little fairies really do make wishes come true."

"I coulda told you that," Donut pitches.

Simmons looks around, "So, I guess our work here is done?"

"There's still the Director," Wash points out.

Church is quick to protest, "No. What comes next... Carolina and I need to do alone."

"In your dreams," Church turns to see Ghost tossing her knife into the air and catching it, "You're not going anywhere without me."

Church hesitates, now doubting if he was ever a good brother to her, never letting her do what she wanted, "Are you... sure this is what you want?"

"No, but it's something I have to do," she turns to Carolina, "And you're going to have to kill me to stop me."


	32. Don't Say It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Triggers, angst, suicide, gruesome

**"Beginning playback."**

In a Freelancer offsite storage facility, present day, Dr. Leonard Church finds himself, after decades of immense research and the military and hundreds of battles, sitting alone in a cold dark room, with no lights on then the one being projected by the home video in front of him, broadcasted on a large screen. She looked so beautiful... with those big eyes, shining smile and blond hair.

_"Leonard, come on. Stop it, put that thing down. You're gonna make me late. They're waiting for me. Leonard--"_

"Hello, Director."

The Director didn't even flinch to the new arrival, "Hello, Agent Carolina. Would you like to watch this file with me?"

"No," Carolina answers while looking around the room, leaving Ghost right outside after she offered to give the Director's sister a few minutes alone with him before she kills him.

"Play it again, FILSS."

**"Director?"**

"Again," the Director repeats while slamming his fist into the table.

"So. This is what you've become."

"I just need to watch this," he lowers his head, "I think I have a way. A way to bring her back right this time."

"The authorities are hunting you now. If I found you, they will too."

"I just need a bit more time."

"No!" Church floats out of Carolina's head and towards the Director, "You've had your fucking time. You have to answer for what you did. To the Meta, to Washington, to Indiana, to Carolina... to  _me, and_  to her. To Texas!"

"Hello, Epsilon. You came all this way just to see me?"

"I'm here to remember what you've done.  **Somebody**  has to."

Carolina steps forward, "Church--"

As Church responds... as he talks about things that relate to the traits of the other A.I. fragments, he takes on their visual and aural characteristics and colors, "Not all of us got off scot-free, Carolina.  **He was brilliant**.  _And we trusted him_. But he lied to us.  **He twisted and tortured us**.  _And used us_! Manipulated us for his own purposes, and for what!?  **For this?**   _This..._   _shadow?_ He needs to pay."

_"Leonard, come on. I have to go. Don't make me hurt you."_

Carolina hesitates before taking off her helmet, her red hair still in its usual ponytail and her face tired and worn. And the Director, in return, takes off his glasses, looking up at her with heavy bags and protruding wrinkles, his skin sunken and pale.

They look at each other with the same bright and sad green eyes. 

_"And don't worry, you'll see me again."_

Her mother's words drive Carolina to slip back into trying to stay mad at her father, several emotions twisting over her face as she remains quiet. At the end of her internal battle, between staring at her father's sad eyes and watching her young mother smiling through the video, Carolina caves in, pitying the man and leaning down to kiss his forehead.

_"Ready?"_

"Just a bit more time," Leonard mutters as if responding to the woman in the video.

Carolina looks up, "Come on, Church. We're leaving."

"I thought we came all this way to kill him."

"Church, remember what you learned in the memory unit? You need to let go. Your past doesn't define who you are. Just gives you the starting point for who you're going to be."

Carolina moves to leave before the Director is grabbing her arm, "Agent Carolina?"

She turns back, "Yes, Director?"

"Would you be so kind as to leave me your pistol," she lowers her head and silently unholsters the pistol Wash had given her earlier. She places it down on the desk in front of her, "Thank you, Carolina."

"Goodbye, Sir."

Carolina starts walking away, leaving Church and the Director alone as the heartbroken, torn old man whispers, "You were my greatest creation."

"I don't know what I am. But I do know this... I'm more than just a copy of you. I'm better than you."

The Director barely looks up, "I wasn't speaking to you."

Church lowers his head and floats off, leaving the Director alone. Carolina waits in the doorway until Church joins her then walks up to Ghost as she enters the room, the ladder sensing that she and Church were wrapping it up. Both women now with their helmets off, they stare in sadness when they both notice the green eyes. Carolina wished with all her heart that she had noticed them sooner.

"You only have a few minutes," she tells the clone of her dead aunt.

Ghost watches Carolina walk away with Church and turn a corner before she takes a deep breath and enters the room, shoulders falling when her eyes meet Allison's through the screen and the silence is met with the Director's soft order.

"Play it again, FILSS."

**"Beginning playback."**

"Thank you, FILSS, now I would like you to erase all our files except for this one."

**"All our files? Does that include... me, Director?"**

"It has been a pleasure working with you FILSS. I am sorry."

**"And you as well, Director."**

"And before you do, please shut down all the facility systems as well. Take everything offline."

**"Director, this is a sealed facility. If I shut down all the systems, life support would not--"**

"Thank you, FILSS... shut them all down. Lock me in."

**"Alright. Was the project a success? Did you find what you were looking for?"**

"No, no I did not. But I believe I might have come very close. I wish... I wish I knew."

**"I see."**

_"Don't worry, you'll see me again."_

"Perhaps the next time around."

**"It has been, an honor, Sir."**

_"Don't say goodbye. I hate goodbyes."  
_

"Thank you, FILSS," the Director plays back the video on his own this time, looking up when another figure enters the room. He and Ghost lock eyes for a moment, Leonard leaning back in his chair and inspecting the familiar face with a soft, sad smile, "Hello, Diana... I'm afraid we will only have a short time together before your window to leave this facility shuts down and closes."

Ghost doesn't smile back, "That's it, huh. Has it taken you this long to call me by my real name? No Agent or Indiana? Has it taken you to be so close in defeat to even admit who I am? Or, more importantly, who I was?"

Leonard lets the smile fall before looking down at the floor, Ghost taking the time to look up and watch a bit of the video herself, sighing, "I hope you're disappointed in what you've done, or I guess... what you  _didn't_  do. You were so overcome by grief, by the loss you felt when she was gone..." She motions her head to the screen once she knows he's paying attention, "You never once thought of the consequences. You were never able to bring your wife back, but you succeeded in bringing  _me_  back. Your own sister. And right now... I don't know if I should feel grateful or cursed. You never once thought about what I would want, didn't you? What would Allison have wanted? Look at all the lives you destroyed by going down this road. And not just the Freelancers, but these simulation troopers as well. You destroyed your entire family and then other families all because you couldn't find it within yourself to live without her. Your daughter had to grow up living under a shadow... a shadow only you could love. No one else. Your wife's memory not only had to go through painful torture but to also be brought back countless times until you could finally admit you couldn't get Tex right. You cloned everything you knew about your sister into me. Her youth, her memories, her personality... her soul into what you created. You gave me a second chance at having a life I couldn't have before the Great War, but instead, you threw me back into the crossfire. I lost people I loved because of you. In the process of trying to bring the love of  _your_  life back... I lost the love of mine. You took him from me," she kneels down to be at his height, looking up at his matching green eyes with her pink-rimmed ones, "And I will forever have to live with that. I have to live with the heartbreaking fact that my own brother took North away from me..."

He closes his eyes, looking as downtrodden as ever, "What do you want from me, Diana?"

She sucks in a sharp breath when she realized she was crying, "I want you to do something for me. Just this once. I'm not asking you to try and bring back the Freelancers, to bring back North. I'm asking you to take responsibility. I want you to turn yourself in. Tell the government everything that you did, including cloning someone who was supposed to stay dead. I want you to bring justice to all the lives you ruined."

She stands up, eyeing at the gun Carolina left behind for him, "I don't want you to take the coward's way out. You had to spend nearly thirty years without Allison, and now I have to spend the rest of my life without North. I want you to justify that. Then hopefully, none of the Freelancers' deaths would have been in vain. Please, just this once. Do something for me. Your own sister. I've never asked you for much before, so please, do this for me. If not me, then do it for her. Do it for Allison. I know I'm not really your sister. I know I'm just a memory of her, but I'm definitely not a shadow or an A.I. like Texas or Alpha. You've made me into more than that. You gave me a heartbeat, a mind of my own, body and soul. Back then you only marked it off as one of your experiments. One of those test runs before you tried doing the same for Allison. This was when I was nothing but a serial number to you. When I was nothing but another agent...

"...When I was nothing but a ghost."

He doesn't respond, the guilt showing on his face but Ghost didn't feel satisfied seeing it as she would have hoped, "Please, Leonard. If there's some part of you still in there that loves me... if you still look in the mirror and see my brother, I want you to stay. Stay with me. I need you to do this for me because deep down I still need you, Leonard. I still need my big brother to take care of me."

Leonard, again, doesn't say much but instead looks up to study what was left of his sister. To see how far she had come from the time he knew her. Her matching dark hair had grown out from the short cut she had in Freelancer, now having to tie it all up into a messy bun. She had a couple of small scars on her face, but other than that, she still looked so young. He noticed how she had painted her armor from the old gray accents to dark purple, and the color alone was clashing with the lime green and it was enough to remind Leonard how much he had let his sister down, "...I am sorry, Diane."

She noticed the way he said it, the way he was giving up and reaching for the gun. She couldn't hide the disappointment in her eyes as she lets out a shaking breath, "No, you're not. If you were, you wouldn't be doing this."

He says nothing as he brings the gun to his head and Ghost rushes out the next words, "I love you, Leo-"

The gunshot rings in her ears and Ghost has to shut her eyes to avoid the blood from blinding her vision. She sucks in a sharp breath of air as the ringing in her ears dies down to pure silence. Opening her eyes, she averts her gaze elsewhere to avoid seeing the body and walks out as FILSS shuts down the entire facility behind her.

The sun was starting to set as Ghost walked outside, feeling numb in her arms and legs, not remembering when or how she got out here, with her brain on autopilot. The rest of the Reds and Blues look up to notice Ghost walking out alone, Church's figure buzzing slightly at the sight of blood splattered across his sister's green and purple armor. The Red and Blues are quiet for once as they watch Ghost slowly stalk towards them, no expression of fear or sadness could be seen in her eyes.

Washington is the only one who moves towards the unresponsive Ghost, her eyes only staring at the ground ahead with her numb fingers loosening on her helmet. Said helmet drops to the ground and Ghost could no longer hold herself up. She takes one look at Wash before collapsing to her knees, Wash being quick to catch her as she began to sob in his arms.

~~~~~~~~~

"Private Grif! Front and center on the double!"

"Ugh, Sarge, I'm tired. Do I have to do it on the  _double?_ "

"Look at me, Sir, I got front and center on the  _triple_."

"Dang nabbit, now I've got two insubordinate soldiers. When I say double, I mean double."

"I will only go so far as a single and a half."

"If these orders were hamburgers, then you'd do a double."

"What? Who has hamburgers?"

"The only hamburger meat here is gonna be your face! When I'm done with my shotgun court martial! And don't even ask me about the type of buns."

"That sounds like the most delicious punishment ever."

"Of all time."

~~~~~~~~~

"Caboose, don't touch that, you'll break it."

"Oh, no I won't, I just- I broke it... Tucker did it."

"Dude, you can't say that when I'm right here."

"Tucker said it."

"Oh my God, shut up."

"Both of you shut up. And get back to work!"

"What do you mean "back to work?" That implies previous work."

"I am putting my back to work."

"Caboose, stop bending backward in your armor! You'll get stuck!"

Church watches as Ghost is trying to keep Caboose from bending backward up on the cliffside of their new canyon, watching them fondly just as Carolina arrives in new armor and helmet.

"Seems like they're getting settled."

"Yup."

"So... I guess everything is finally getting back to normal."

"What passes for normal around here, sure. What can I tell ya; we're home. I mean,  _they're_  home."

"Can I make a suggestion? Don't say goodbye."

Church turns to finally look at her, "Goodbye? I didn't realize I was goin' somewhere."

"I intercepted a military transmission. It seems some low-level thugs have some armor and equipment that's way above their pay grade. Sounds like it might be some of the missing gear from a certain defunct military project we both know?"

"Is that right."

"I think I'll go get it back. Hate to think about it being in the wrong hands."

"And?"

"And with all that equipment I could really use someone to help me run it. You seem uniquely qualified for the job."

"I don't know."

"I figure we can set some things right. That we helped make wrong."

"That's a lot of things to make right."

"Yep. Could keep us busy for... quite a while."

"It would be nice to be a good guy again."

"Epsilon, what you and I were involved with - the things we helped do - I'll be honest, I don't know if we can ever get all the way back to good. But I think that we have a chance to do better. And if we wake up every day and try to make things better? Eventually, we might find that better is good enough."

"Good enough."

"Good enough."

"Yeah still, I hate to leave without saying  _something_. They deserve to at least hear goodbye."

"My mother had a saying. Did I ever tell you about my mother?"

Church chuckles, "No, I don't think you ever did."

"She wasn't around a lot when I was a kid, and when she was she could only stay a short time. Seems like she always had somewhere else to be; something important to do. And when she left, she wouldn't say goodbye to me. Instead, she always told me, never say goodbye. If you don't say goodbye then, you aren't really gone. You, just aren't here right now."

Church turns back around to watch his team, "Your mother sounds like a smart lady."

"She was. She really was," Carolina could feel a smile forming for the first time ever when speaking about her mother, "Had a terrible taste in men though."

"And what about Washington or Ghost? Shouldn't they know about this?"

Carolina lowers her head, "...They've been through enough. Unlike me, they deserve a life out of the fight. They never really were meant for war."

"Yeah... I agree."

Church turns when he hears his name, seeing Caboose shout up to him, "Hey, Church! Church! Come down here! We wanna show you something! Church!" Caboose then noticed he was no longer there; Carolina, too, "Church?"

"Hey, Caboose, you find Church?" Tucker calls out from inside the base.

"No, I didn't find him."

"Well, where do you think he is?"

"I don't know. Somewhere. He's just not here right now."

**To Be Continued...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end of Season 10! So far I don't have much done for Season 11. I don't even have the chapters done on Wattpad, but I'm certain I'll be posting future chapters on here from now on instead of there. I hope you've been enjoying the story so far! Please tell me what you thought about it and possibly encourage me to hurry up for those future chapters XD


	33. The Turning Point

_"Take him and run!"_

_"What did you do?!"  
_

_"What I can to survive!"_

_"I'm not leaving you!"_

_"What did you?!"_

_"You have to!"_

_"What you couldn't!"_

_"Here, take this."_

_"You either run with me or stay here and die."_

_"We can't leave him!"_

_"Indi, get up! He's coming! GET UP!"_

_"NO!"_

"NO!" Ghost sits up in bed, screaming. The scream follows with heavy breathing, her lungs burning for air and lips dry of thirst. Looking around wildly, Ghost panics when she finds herself in an unfamiliar room, eyes quickly trying to adjust to the darkness while she rushes to untangle herself from the twisting bedsheets, desperate to free her legs and cool off. After several minutes of just trying to breathe, heart rate still beating erratically, Ghost's eyes finally adjust and finds herself in her makeshift room at Blue Base. Her small gasps start slowing down as she tries reassuring herself that she knows where she is and who she's with. 

"Blue Base," she whispers to herself, "You're okay. You're with your family. You're okay..."

_'Lavernius Tucker.'_

_'Michael J. Caboose.'_

_'David Washington.'_

She sighs, reciting the names like she was rehearsing for a play. Realizing that she had shrunk into a small ball and was clutching her skull with both hands, she slowly unwinds and swings her legs over the side of the bed. The female soldier takes deep breaths, resting her elbows on her knees as she stares down at the floor. The back of her neck felt cool, sending shivers down her back when she realized she was sweating from head to toe. Feeling her face, Ghost brings her hand back to find sweat from her forehead and tears from running down her cheeks. 

Ghost curses slightly and stands up, only feeling dizzy for a moment before she walks into the bathroom attached to her room, flicking on the light and filling the sink up with water. She splashes her face multiple times and leans onto the sink, gasping while trying to regain her breathing. Looking up at the mirror, she sees the same face she's been looking at in the mirror for nearly ten years. Green eyes. Dark hair. Scarred face.

"Your name is Ghost," she tells the reflection, "You're a member of the Blue Team. Tucker is your best friend and the rest of the Reds and Blues are your family. You crash landed on a remote planet. You're fine. Nothing is coming for you. You're safe."

Even as she said it out loud, she didn't believe it. Sighing, she leaves the bathroom and sees her helmet out of the corner of her eye, sitting at a table she had makeshift into her desk. She sits down in front of the helmet when she noticed a light blinking inside. Putting her helmet on, Ghost activates a message from Washington.

_"Journal Entry, One-Zero-One. It's been a while since I've done one of these so, uh, let's get caught up to speed."_

Ghost sighs. Wash insisted on trying these journal entries again as a way of recording everything that happens while they're stranded and searching for help. He also insisted on sending these entries to Ghost in order for her to add onto these reports,  _"Everything can be traced back to Project Freelancer: a military organization gone horribly wrong. The men in charge were corrupt, and the soldiers who followed them were blind-- and guess which side **I**  was on. Eventually, it was the project's own creations that tore it to pieces and I was the one sent out to pick them up. I recovered weapons, armor, and A.I. fragments all in an effort to keep the wrong people from getting them first. But I was too slow. Everyone fought over the remnants of Project Freelancer. I didn't think I could believe in anyone anymore. But then, I met the Reds and Blues. They had been used by the Freelancers just like I had. They were cannon fodder in a conflict with no purpose, but more importantly, they were just stupid enough to trust. Together we were able to put an end to everything: the Freelancers, the A.I., even the Director of the whole operation._

Ghost lowers her head, folding her arms in front of her as a way of protecting herself,  _"They're all gone. And as for us, well... we're shipwrecked. Crashed during our ride home. And if we're not rescued soon, I have a feeling something else might find us first. This is Agent Washington, signing--"_ There's an explosion somewhere in the distance and she rolls her eyes when Wash's voice goes ten notches higher as an indignant screech, _"Oh, what now?!"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If it wasn't convincing or it didn't make any sense, those bits and pieces at the beginning of the chapter are remnants from Ghost's nightmare/memory.


	34. The Beginning?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to give this tiny background snip-bit on Ghost/Indiana/Diana Church's life before we continue on with the story and confuse you even more ;) Thanks, enjoy!

The reason why I added a question mark to the end of this chapter's title is simply that the beginning is kind of complicated to describe in a complex story such as Red Vs. Blue. Let's just say, this chapter is strictly dedicated to Ghost/Diana/Indiana's story. And I guess, to start this beginning, it would just be simpler if I started at the end...

Dr. Leonard Church was not always known as the villain or the obsessed bastard. He wasn't known as the Director of Project Freelancer or even as the Worst Father of the Year. To his childhood friends, -if he had any- he was known as Leonard. But, to his younger sister, he was known as just Leon.

Diana Church was only a couple years younger than her brother, Leon. She was smart, funny, and a total badass. She was always tough and strong for both of them since Leo wasn't much for violence. But with violence comes trouble, and Diana  _loved_  trouble. This fact was proven when the two Church siblings signed up for the UNSC so Leonard could keep his sister out of juvie, and almost immediately, he picked a fight with Private Delaney and got his ass kicked. Well, sort of kicked. Halfway through a young woman named Allison jumped in to aid Leonard against Delaney, and even Diana found the girl rather impressive. Sure, Leonard's sister was going to just stand there and let her brother learn his lesson, but in the end, if Allison and Diana were to ever fight, it would be a close call in the end. 

Leonard was head over heels for this girl, and eventually, she gave in to his advances. Diana would roll her eyes and become the couple's third wheel for the upcoming four years, even after the two married and had a daughter together. During the Great War, Diana decided to take a quick shore-leave to spend some time with her little niece, while Leonard and Allison were otherwise engaged in the war, Allison through combat and Leonard through science. For the whole week, Diana was back home with her small family, and she was happy. 

...Her ship was shot down by the Covenant the first day she went back.

Now announced KIA, Diana Church was buried at home, her brother was the last of her family to see her body put six feet under the ground. Leonard was overcome by grief, but his wife Allison pulled him through it, and his sister's death was enough to motivate him into finding other ways in protecting the soldiers during the war. 

Allison would be killed two years later...

Leonard learned a hard lesson that day. He learned that nothing was going to stop him from getting the family he loved back.

And so it was, decades later, Diana would open her eyes once again. Dr. Leonard Church, now aged and the Director of Project Freelancer, had found a way to bring his sister back. Using every single memory the two of them shared their entire lives, Diana was recreated as a clone, not an A.I. 

Using science and biology, Leonard even made her a new physical body, with even the same facial features she bestowed before she died. Diana 2.0 was created with little to no memory about her death. Instead, she was just told by her brother that she had been in a coma for so many years and that he was able to contain her youth using several healing units now used by his super soldiers. Diana accepts the story but was still on edge with how so many things have changed. Her brother was now cold, emotionless, and some could say even unstable. Leonard had told her that Allison had died in the war and his daughter went to live with distant relatives after Diana slipped into a coma. He hasn't seen his child since, and Diana believed him. She never bothered to go looking for her beloved niece, knowing that she would now be all grown up and probably wouldn't remember her. 

The Director decided to place Diana into Project Freelancer, giving her the ironic codename, Agent Indiana. At first, Indiana wasn't there to make friends, but slowly, day by day, acquaintances turned into allies, allies to friends, and friends to family.

Agent Indiana, like the other super soldiers, had specific special skills that were put into consideration upon joining Project Freelancer. You could say she could easily adapt to the other soldiers' skills, but that was Agent Washington's field of work. She loved wielding knives, Leonard could confirm that from their childhood, and she loved hand-to-hand combat, hence the up-close-and-personal weapon and a few martial arts skills up her sleeve. She handles with both a pistol and enjoys the sniper rifle from time to time. Granted, she's not as good as a certain sharpshooter, but she can get the job done.

Speaking of sharpshooters, Indiana had grown awfully close to Agent North Dakota as her time within Project Freelancer progressed. When he wasn't partnered up with his sister, North was always on missions with Indiana. By all means, the other Freelancers didn't think it made sense. North Dakota and Indiana were the  _last_  two Freelancers the others thought would get romantically involved with each other. They were kind of opposites. North was skilled in killing from a distance, Indiana a little more 'up close'. North was a nurturing and caring individual, while Indiana was more carefree and a tad bit reckless. North had pale blonde hair and pale blue eyes, while Indiana had dark brown hair and stunning green eyes. 

Nonetheless, the two of them turned out to be a perfect power couple that the chosen few of Project Freelancer came to love over time. The Director had enforced rules about no couples were allowed in the program years before, but North and Indiana were careful, making sure the Director never found out. The Freelancers were a family that Indiana thought she lost now that her brother was less than involved in her life, and she would do anything for her super soldiers. She always came to their aid whenever they needed it, she was always willing to help them when they were down, and she was so supportive of every decision her dear friends made. 

Yeah, you could say that Agent Indiana was a perfect, successful project, but Leonard could only see her as a window of hope, the first step in yet another one of his experiments. 

When the A.I. Alpha, tortured and exhausted, tried expelling all the memories Leonard Church had of Allison, he accidentally created a new, separate A.I, a byproduct so to speak, Beta. When the Director realized that this could be his chance to bring back Allison, he tried using the research he used on Indiana and tried it on his new experiment, Agent Texas. But, there was a setback. Indiana was able to work and fully function as his sister again because Leonard had a treasure trove full of memories of her. She was an exact copy of Diana. Tex was different. She only had bits and pieces of Leonard's memory of Allison because he didn't know her as long as his own sister, making the cloning almost impossible to perfect like Diana's clone.

Like Epsilon said when describing Tex to Agent Washington,  _"She died in her real life, and that's all the Director ever remembered of her. So now, no matter how tough she is, no matter how hard she fights, she's always going to fail, because that's what she's based on. No matter what she's doing, or what she's trying to accomplish, just when her goal is within her reach, it gets yanked away. Every. Single. Time."_

Allison was there for Leonard when he lost his sister, and so he was able to let go of Diana and remember her in different ways than just from her death. But he didn't have the exact same support when Allison died. Leonard was all alone and he fell into severe depression. Her death was the only memory he had of her.

So you can only imagine how things took a turn for the worst. And of course, you already know the rest of the story. 

Or do you?


	35. Heavy Mettle

Tucker and Ghost both turn their heads from inside their makeshift base when they heard the familiar rolls and humming of their tank. Exchanging a look, the two friends head outside and Tucker is met with the tank's barrel aiming right at his face. For a moment, he remembers the first time Church died, "Oh, shit."

"We are back," Caboose proclaims while walking out from behind the tank.

Tucker swallows down the startled squawk in his voice, "Caboose? Christ, I thought you were in that thing. Wait, who  _is_  in that thing?"

"Hello, Private."

"Oh, shit."

Ghost scoffed while sitting back as Wash uncreatively starts lecturing Tucker again. It has so far been the only entertainment she gets out of being stuck in a canyon with her idiots, "Tucker, what is the one thing I tell you each and every morning?"

Tucker's voice drops as if he's being told off by his mother, "Wake up."

"The other thing."

"For the love of God, stop sleeping naked," Ghost has to bite her cheek from bursting out laughing at that rule.

Wash wasn't as amused as her, unfortunately, "Don't let  _anyone_  touch the tank."

Tucker looks back and forth between his current pain-in-the-ass leader to the tank towering over the pair of them, "...Uh- okay, I can see where you're going with this."

"Until we're rescued, we need to be more mindful of the supplies that we have."

"I know, I know, ration the food, maintain our equipment."

"Brush our teeth, don't talk to strangers, try not to shoot anyone while they're trying to brush their teeth," Caboose robotically lists off the rest of the rules while walking over to stand next to Ghost, the female soldier unable to recall the last rule as she stares oddly at him.

"And always, report into me," Wash finishes.

Tucker whines, again, uncreatively, "Do we have to?"

"Yes! I even put up that old, Blue Team organizational chart to help demonstrate the point."

"Yeah, but we never really listened to that. Church just kind of shouted orders and we'd get around to them, eventually. Or we wouldn't. Whatever."

"He was an inspiration to us all!" Caboose cried out.

"Well, Church and Carolina decided to run off without so much as a goodbye, so it's up to  _me_  to keep us all together," Wash spared a glance towards Ghost, but she had ignored it in exchange for picking off an old smiley sticker she had let Caboose put on her gun a few years back. Wash quickly turns back to Tucker and steps closer to him, "Maybe if  _someone_  hadn't crashed the ship, we wouldn't be in this mess."

"Woah, wait a second, why are you looking at  _me_  when you say that?" Tucker narrows his eyes through his helmet.

"I just have a hard time believing that thousands of well-trained crew members were to blame for the incident."

"Well, they definitely didn't survive it! Ha ha ha!" Tucker paused when his joke is met by silence, quickly covering his laugh up with a cough, "...Ahum."

"Wow," Wash deadpanned, unimpressed.

Tucker lowered his head, shamefully, "Yeah."

"You proud of yourself."

"No."

Caboose even pitches in, "Yeah, that was, that was definitely too soon. Probably too soon for sound effects, too...  _'Oh, God, help us'_ , yes, too soon."

"Meet me in the training yard, Private," Wash nearly sneered out the title, "You just earned yourself one hundred squats."

Tucker throws his head back and groans, stopping abruptly to gasp for air when Ghost had harshly elbowed him in the ribs. He takes the moment to glare at her through his helmet, and she could even feel it without even seeing it. Tucker shakes his head and trudges off, Caboose having already disappeared.

"Honestly, how come you didn't run drills or have them report to you?" Wash sighed while tilting his head to his fellow female teammate.

Ghost shrugs, "Because for the past ten or so years, I didn't have the mindset of a Freelancer. I was an idiot like the rest of them."

~~~~~~~~~  
  
For what felt like hours to Tucker was only a half of one to Wash as he closely watches Tucker do proper squats, making the private count them out loud, "Sixty! Sixty-one! Sixty-two! Sixty-three! Sixty-four! Sixty-five! Sixty-six! Sixty-seven! Sixty-eight! Sixty- _nine..._ "

Tucker doesn't stand back up after that, panting for breath while Wash rolls his eyes inside his helmet, "Tucker, you can't keep stopping on sixty-nine."

Tucker wheezes, "No, this time, my legs went out."

The Blue leader sighs, walking over to help the poor guy up, "Come on."

Once he's helped Tucker to stand, the ladder doesn't hesitate to take a crack, "O-hohou, holy Christ. I haven't been this sore since that bachelorette party on Bourbon Street."

Wash has never boughten into Tucker's bullshit and wasn't gonna start now, "You want me to believe you banged an entire bachelorette party."

"I  _want_  you to," he admits, "But really the groom just showed up and cracked three of my ribs."

"That's what I thought."

"Why do we have to train so much? We never had to do squats when Church was in charge."

"Exactly. I'd  _say_  you two have fallen out of shape, Ghost included, but generally, in order to fall  _out_  of something, you have to be in it first."

"Hey, that's funny, you should write comedy, Wash. Why make one person miserable when you can work over an entire room?"

" _Alright_ , time for sprints," Wash chimes in almost  _too_  happy to be sarcastic.

"Fuck you."

"I want five laps, around the canyon."

" **Die. In. A fire.** "

" _Six_  laps around the canyon."

"Hey, why isn't Caboose down here? Shouldn't you be making him do dumbbell curls, or inverted pushups or something?"

Wash's sarcasm drops while slowly answering, "I think he's having one of his,  _off-_ days."

Tucker drops his sarcasm, too, "Oh."

But Washington only shakes his head while turning to leave, "Go do your laps and I'll find Ghost to join you while I talk to Caboose."

~~~~~~~~~

Ghost had been carefully watching Caboose sigh and whine for a good half an hour, not sure what to say or how to say it. It's not like she could comfort him with the promise that Church will come back within all actually, Ghost wasn't even sure if she believed it herself. Originally, she had hoped that Church had gone off with Carolina to only temporarily be away from everyone to kind of mourn, or-- not mourn depending on the person. Carolina might be a little out of shape since she buried her own father, but Church might have had mixed feelings seeing as he blamed the Director for everything. Nevertheless, Ghost had hoped Church would come back and help her get over the fact that her brother was gone, or have her imagine that Church was the only brother she ever really had. Of course, she was stupid to believe Church would ever do that in the first place, let alone come back. He is an asshole after all. It still hurt that Church and Carolina, legally her only family still alive, had left almost right away after the Director's death, leaving Ghost alone to mourn for possibly a brother she never really had in the first place.

She was able to shake her thoughts away, however, when Wash showed up, his gaze locked on Caboose in the corner of the room but addressing Ghost as she stood by the doorway, "How is he?"

"Sigh. Groan. Oh, woe is me. Oh, I don't know what it even means."

Ghost deflates slightly while leaning against the wall, "What do you think?"

Wash sighs, not as dramatically as Caboose but all the same turns to look at Ghost. He notices for the first time that she wasn't wearing her armor. When he thinks about it, she's recently been in her own, baggy civilian clothes more than not. Her long hair was slightly matted compared to all the times he had once seen it short and well-groomed back in the day. Her naturally fair skin had sunken around the eyes, contrasting a dark purple underneath her green orbs. 

They haven't talked about it, and half of Wash knows that Ghost doesn't want to, but the other half of him knows that it would help. He notes in the back of his head to discuss things with her later and motions to the door, "Why don't you put on your armor and help Tucker out with his sprints. He's gotta take six laps around the canyon."

"I'll help him with three," she smirks slightly before leaving the room to let Wash have a go at cracking Caboose's armor.

Washington turns back to the soldier moping in the corner of the room, "Still... standing in the corner, Caboose?"

"Oh yeah, you know I I i-ch- yeah I just miss Church sometimes."

"I know you do, buddy. He was your leader for a really long time."

"Yeah, I am just- I am just so lost without him I-" Caboose's voice raises to a certain horror as he stares into the full-length mirror he's been crying into for some time, " **I don't even recognize my own face.** "

Wash tries to softly console him, being as humanly patient as one could be with Caboose, "Well... ah- you don't have your old helmet anymore, Caboose. Also, your helmet and face are not the same thing."

"Oh God, that explains the blinking contest. Why did you have to tell me that?" He cries while running to the opposite end of the room, "Aw, it's- you just made it worse."

"Look, Caboose," Wash joins his side, "I'm sure that somewhere out there, Church is thinking about how much he misses you, too."

Caboose slowly turns his head to face him, "You really think so?"

Wash pauses momentarily, reminding himself of a time back when they were all on the hunt for the Director, and he was standing next to Caboose and a transparent Church while the cobalt blue soldier yells and rants. Church, however, looks about ready to shoot himself while muttering in protest.

_"Shut up, just shut your mouth."  
_

_"-get pictures together! We'll ride bikes, and show pride."_

_"Shut up! Shut up."_

_"And then we're gonna go to the fair, and we are gonna ride boats. And then we are gonna finger paint-"_

_" **Caboose! For the love of God, shut the fuc-** "_

Wash blinks slowly at the memory before slurring his answer, "...Yeah. Why don't you go for a walk? Take a little time to clear your head."

"Yeah... yeah, I just- yeah I'll go on a walk by myself I guess," Caboose turns and starts walking away, close to tears again, "That won't be depressing at all."

As he walks off, he appears to be crying at the clouds overhead. Or... over his own head, "Ah... oh God... I am walking by myself now. Aaoauh. Aaah."

Wash sighs as Caboose disappears, muttering to himself, "What am I gonna do with him."

Over his shoulder, he sees that Tucker is walking down below the base and starts shouting orders, "I said  _sprints_ , Private Tucker!"

Tucker immediately beings sprinting while shouting over his shoulder, "I'm going to spit in your next meal! And it's not gonna be spit! If you know what I'm talking about!"

Washington heads back down to the training yard in front of their base and waits. He sees that Ghost had finally come down, in all of her armor, to run beside Tucker in his remaining three laps as promised. Once they finished, Tucker was so out of breath, Ghost had to speak for him as she was clearly not even close to winded. After Tucker had a drink of water and was able to breathe again, Wash led both him and Ghost over to a tunnel with a cone at the mouth of it, "Tucker, in basic training, there's a point when the drill sergeant attempts to  _break_  his or her soldiers, so that they may overcome their civilian mindset and focus on the responsibility, and selflessness of becoming a true soldier."

"Uh, bro, I went through Basic ages ago. True soldier, standin' right here," Tucker announces confidently.

"What is the UNSC motto?" Wash tests him.

"When in doubt, rub one out."

"I am going, to break you, Private Tucker."

"Oooh, I'm shaking in my armor," the aqua-marine soldier mocks.

Ghost scoffs, "Also, the UNSC motto is  _'Per Mare, Per Terras, Per Constellatum'_."

Tucker turns to her, his jaw dropping in disbelief, "What the fuck does that mean?"

" _'By Sea, By Land, By the Stars'_ , you idiot."

Wash shakes off the two soldiers bickering and turns towards the cave, "Inside this tunnel is an elaborate obstacle course designed to test both your reflexes and your mettle."

"Uhh, like, copper?" Tucker questioned.

"No that's metal; I said mettle."

"Whatever."

"On your mark," Wash whips out his pistol, aiming high before changing his mind and suddenly aiming low, "Get set..."

"This is such bull-"

Wash shoots Tucker in the ass, causing the younger man to squeak and start running into the cave, " _-shit!_  Oh, ow, okay, I'm going."

Once he runs in, Ghost finds it curious while turning to Wash, placing her hand on her hip while tilting her helmet suspiciously, "Did you have to shoot him in the ass?"

Wash nearly sputters at what she might be implying and grunts out, "Shut up."

Inside, Tucker jumps over a sandbag wall, "Hup," before coming up to a row of cones lining up along a wall. He doesn't hesitate to shoot at them, "Stupid fucking cones."

He swords his way through a wooden barricade, "Woop," encounters several mines, "Jesus Christ," there are even bullets streaming past him as he crouches low to the ground, some of which hit him in the helmet, "Oh my God, where is this coming from?"

He runs past a desert scene with cliffs and tanks and airships, " _Who are these people!?_ " He drives in a jeep down a hallway that looks like an old video game, "What the fuck is going on?"

But before long, he exits the tunnel between two cones and rejoins Wash and Ghost, out of breath again and coughing up his own lungs. Wash didn't sound all that impressed.

"Congratulations Private, that time was, ...adequate, for a beginner."

Ghost snorts while folding her arms over her chest plate to the best of her ability, "Amateur."

Tucker huffs rapidly, "I, what was- hguh, I don't-"

Wash hid his amusement behind his helmet, grinning, "Just an adrenaline rush, Tucker, it'll wear off."

"I'm, I'm..."

" _Shaking in your armor_?"

Ghost laughs, taking the opportunity to snatch Tucker's usual line for a burn, " _Zing_."

"Oh boy, oh boy, oh hello, hello," Caboose runs past them while also wandering seemingly aimlessly, whispering to himself excitedly.

Wash calls it a success, "Caboose, glad to see you're feeling better, I've got a little exercise for you. Inside this cave is an elaborate obstacle course designed to-"

Caboose enters the cave, the other three Blues all hear something explode, and before they could blink, Caboose exits out the other side almost immediately, still ranting excitedly, "Okay, now that was fun, how'd I do so good now no more questions thank you goodbye!"

Washington just stares after him in disbelief, Tucker not noticing much with his head lowered and pride damaged while his leader continues talking, "...I think that's enough training for today."

"Yeah."

"Uh, I'm, gonna go work on the comm tower."

Wash is already walking away when Tucker finds his response, "Yeah."

~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, we check back in on our Reds and we find Grif and Simmons inside their half of the base, according to Sarge after he deliberately demanded that they renovate their base... again.

"Hey, roomie, uh, you got a second for me?" Simmons asked.

Grif turns his head to him, "'Sup?"

"Oh you know, not much, not much uh, oh so- question for you."

"Uh huh."

"By any chance, you know, have you seen my toothbrush?"

"Uhh, I don't think so."

"Uh, okay, okay, uh, you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Huhh, 'cause you know I'm pretty sure I saw you with it earlier."

"Dude, you're acting weird."

Simmons sputters, "Mm what? What do you mean?"

"I mean, clearly you're accusing me of using your toothbrush, but instead of just coming out and saying it, you're being really passive-aggressive and tip-toeing around the accusation."

"Huh," the maroon hums knowingly, waiting for the ticking time bomb to set off. 

"You did the same thing when I left the lights on, and when I put my boots on your side of the room."

"Mmhmm?"

"And I feel like there's this constant tension growing between us? That's inevitably going to erupt, over what would normally be considered a small issue," Grif also lists off knowingly.

"Yeah, well... you know I wouldn't be asking you about my toothbrush if I hadn't seen you with it earlier."

"I used your toothbrush."

Simmons draws his gun and aims, " **You** _ **FUCK**!_"

Grif starts shouting in defense, stepping back in fear, "Dude, what's wrong with you!?"

"What's wrong with me, what's wrong with  _you?_  You keep stacking dishes in the sink. I don't even think you've eaten off of some of them. For all I know you're doing it because you're  _fucking bored._ "

"Wait, isn't the sink just where dishes go?"

" **NO** , they go in the cupboard!"

"We have a cupboard?"

Sarge enters from his side of the room, or more like  _on_  his side of the room since he's still on the other side of a ridiculous wall of sandbags between him and his soldiers that don't even go up to their knees, "Hey, keep it down in there! I'm tryin' to watch my stories."

Simmons walks right up to the imaginary wall, pleading, "Sarge, please, tear down the wall. I can't take Grif's laziness in small spaces!"

"I'm sorry Simmons."  _No, he wasn't._  "But we all have to make sacrifices... Except for me because I'm in charge."

"Hey, Simmons?" Grif approaches behind him cautiously, "This probably isn't the best time to say this, but uh, we're out of toilet paper."

Simmons squeals in disapproval, "What?  _How_?"

Grif recalls seeing the tank on the other side of the canyon by the Blues had been TP'd and shrugs, "I don't know."

The Reds hear an out of place clear of someone's throat and they all turn to find Wash standing there, "I believe you borrowed my toolbox."

"What do you need a toolbox for?" Simmons turned to him.

"Repairing the comm tower. I know you three are having fun, playing house, but I'd really rather leave this place."

"Playing house?" Sarge begins to walk forward, stepping over the sandbags, "Son, this is a highly-" he realizes his mistake and happily backtracks, "Whoops, forgot to use the door. Doo do-doo doo doo."

Washington watches, unimpressed before turning back to Simmons and Grif, "The Toolbox."

"Upstairs," Grif muttered.

"Show me."

Grif groans, "Fine. But don't touch any of my stuff."

As Wash follows Grif upstairs, Simmons could hear their conversation from down below, "Auh, this place is a pigsty."

"It's not a pigsty Wash, it's a way of life."

Simmons turns to his leader, trying not to think about the mess upstairs that he might have to clean up, shivers going up his back, "Hey Sarge, didn't we recover an old robot building kit from the crash?"

Sarge appears from the 'doorway', "Sure did. Makes a great footrest. I like to prop my feet up while I'm watching my stories."

"Well, if we were to repurpose the robot's radio transmitter for the comm tower, we might be able to-"

"Simmons," Sarge interrupts, "I'm gonna have to stop you before your terrible plan becomes any more terrible."

"Oh," poor Simmons whimpers while lowering his head in defeat.

"Fortunately, I believe we may be able to use this robot kit to build some sort of robot. We can put it to work constructing a radio transmitter. And then the comm tower will be fixed in no time!"

"But- don't you think it would be better if-"

"Not at all, let's build a robot," Sarge turns and leaves abruptly.

Simmons basks in the silence for two seconds before simply stating, "I hate them."

"Are those my socks?" Wash's accusing voice carries out from up the stairs.

Grif's voice, too, "Yeah, but you probably don't want those back."

Simmons groans, "I hate all of them."


	36. A Real Fixer Upper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought I was becoming nocturnal after moving, since for many nights afterwards, I've been staying up until the early hours of the morning. But maybe I'm just crazy and getting old because I had to hurry and post this cause I was ready to crash at 11:50pm

"I'm just saying, I feel like someone should have found us by now."

"Hm," Wash hummed thoughtfully while tinkering with the radio dish for what felt like the hundredth time. Behind him, Tucker is just standing around like always, not even bothering to help Wash. It pissed the Freelancer off that Tucker couldn't even pass him the tools.

"You know it's like, if a plane crashes and disappears, that's fine, civilians, whatever."

"Not sure if I agree with you on that."

"But this was a fucking spaceship. That's like, national tragedy level important."

"It  _was_  a big ship."

"And what about GPS? The Galactic Positioning System should've been able to inform Command of our location within seconds of a mayday."

Washington nearly sprung up, dropping his wrench in the process while slowly turning to face Tucker, "How do you know that?"

"Uh..." Tucker's mind goes back to the day they crash landed where he had been positioned in the bridge of the ship with one soldier explaining the entire system to him.

_"And the Galactic Positioning System would be able to inform command of our location within seconds of a mayday, so even if the ship were to crash, rescue would be practically immediate. Isn't that rad?"  
_

_Tucker, of course, didn't think it was rad at all while agreeing sarcastically, "Cool, nerd stuff. Hey, smerg alert, is it just me or is that blonde over there checking me out?"_

_The crewman follows Tucker's gaze, "Who, the pilot?"_

_"Yeah, she's definitely checking me out," Tucker always thought with what was between his legs instead of between his ears. So as per-fricking-usual, Tucker walks over to the uninterested female._

_"Wait, you can't go over there!"_

_"Hey baby, I hear you're a pilot. Think you could pull up on my throttle? Bow chicka bow wow--"_

The sudden sirens and flashing red lights bring Tucker back to the present with Wash in front of him tilting his helmet expectedly. 

"I read it in a book?"

"I don't believe you," Wash turns back around, "Then again I don't really care." Tucker sighs in relief as Wash bends back down to work on the radio, only for the agent to pop right up and startle the poor Private. "Hey-"

"Whoa whoa, what? Nothing."

"What happened to my soldering iron?"

"Oh. Uh, I don't know."

"Dammit! This would be going, so much faster, if I didn't have to keep tracking down equipment every five minutes."

"What do you think the Reds took it?"

Wash cocks his gun and Tucker couldn't decide if he found  _that_  off-putting or the fact that Wash with the stick-up-his-ass was impersonating Sarge, "Men, it appears our shitty fortifications aren't meeting my ridiculous standards. Let's steal Washington's tank, and fire at our walls; that'll fix it."

Tucker watches the Freelancer carefully, tilting his helmet to the side in interest. The turquoise-colored soldier didn't know whether to laugh or be concerned. All the while, Wash deadpans, "Yes, I think the Reds took it."

"Man, why are you so wound up all the time?"

"Because every second we're here is another second closer to death," he looks off in the distance, "Or worse."

"What's worse than death?"

"I... don't know, I just thought it sounded dramatic," Wash goes back to work on the radio as Tucker continues.

"Come on, it's not  _that_  bad. I mean if we were back in Blood Gulch, we'd be doing the exact same shit, you know?"

"There's just something about this place. I can't help but feel like we're being watched."

"Oh, please, people get that feeling all the time. I had it for years."

"But that's because you  _were_  being watched. You were monitored by a secret organization for every second, of every day."

"Well, I don't feel like I'm being watched now," Tucker offered.

"Thank you, I feel much more secure."

"Don't be a dick."

"Then don't be an idiot."

"The fuck is your problem?"

"My problem is that you're absolutely right," Wash gives in, "Somebody should have found us by now. Now where the hell is that Goddamn soldering iron?"

Meanwhile, Caboose is found in a cave, crouched in the dark while attending to a small unforeseeable object, "Boy, you're lucky I came by. What is a little fella like you doin' way out here?" The object crackles and Caboose stands up while looking around, "Hey... no moving. Have to get you out of here first. Don't worry... we're gonna be best friends."

~~~~~~~~~

_North always finds himself in the locker room around noon right after he and York have their usual work out routines set after breakfast. What he wasn't expecting, however, was seeing the new recruit all alone by their locker, eyeing their green and gray armor stacked neatly inside the locker like it offended them._

_The purple and green armored Freelancer makes a pit stop at his locker before walking over the Freelancer opposite of him. They hadn't realized he was there yet as they were rolling their helmet around in their hands, inspecting it, "Hey, everything... okay?"_

_The woman looks up at him and he's greeted by piercing green eyes. She's the average height for a woman her age with short, dark brown hair curling just above her shoulders. She wore the standardized muscle shirt and cargo pants with what appeared to be scratch-free dog tags nestled over her fair-skinned neck._

_"Yeah..." she started cautiously before bashfully admitting, "I've never had to wear this kind of armor before."_

_"No kidding," North responds with surprise then flashes a kind smile, "What branch were you?"_

_He nods to her dog tags and she flashes him a smile in return, "Air force."_

_"So you've never had to wear the armor until joining the Project. Interesting," North shrugs while staring between the woman and her armor before walking back over to his locker. The woman eyes him cautiously as he opens the locker and brings out his helmet. He displays it to her while stating, "Leave this for last when putting everything on. Start with the boots then work your way up. I need to throw mine back on now that my work out's over so I can guide you."_

_"Thanks," the woman props her foot up on the bench in front of her locker while untying her combat boots, "And I'd hate to ask, but do you guys just address each other with codenames around here?"_

_"For the most part," he walks back over and offers a hand and a smile, "Agent North Dakota. Everyone just calls me North."_

_She smiles back and shakes his hand, all of the nerves and anxiety she had felt on her first day melting along with it, "Agent Indiana."_

_"Nice to meet you, Indiana. Welcome to the team."_

Ghost sits up in bed, again, gasping for air while wildly looking around the room. Once she realizes where she is, she grabs her pillow and flings it at the opposite wall, pretending it was someone she hated.

When she thinks of anyone she could have possibly hated in all her life her mind immediately digs up South's face and her mood just turns sour. Flinging her legs over the side of the bed, Ghost rubs her hands over her face as the dozens of images flashes behind her eyelids. She could see South, pinned between a wall and Wash. She was with Caboose, Church, and Wash when they pinpointed the female Dakota and Delta's location around the same time the Meta did. At the time, Ghost had no memory of Project Freelancer and at the time didn't know why South kept glaring in her direction. Come to think of it,  _Wash_  had given her a harder time back then as well. When he had found her and she didn't recognize him, it obviously made him uneasy being around her. When Wash had finally killed South, Ghost didn't feel anything. But now she wished she could go back in time and watch the memory over and over again until her anger towards the backstabbing-her-brother bitch dies with her. 

With her blood boiling, Ghost decided it was time to get some fresh, night air. Standing up, she only grabs her helmet before leaving her room in only her pajamas. Once outside, she takes in full, deep breaths before putting the helmet on and activating the flashlight attached to it. Following down the dirt trail, she makes it up to the comm tower, figuring she could try fixing the radio while she's awake.

What she wasn't expecting, however, was finding Wash already there, in the dark, fully armored, tinkering away on the radio. His back was turned to her until she made a noise and he spun around. In only her small pajamas and big helmet, Wash almost mistook her for a bobblehead.

Instead of asking the unspoken question, Ghost immediately finds an inappropriate joke swimming in her head to ease her initial panic, "And here I thought I would one morning find you in Tucker's room."

Wash startles even more before growling out, "What the Hell does  _that_  mean?"

"What are you doing?" She changes the subject before the hidden meaning behind her words were discovered.

"Working on the radio."

"No, I mean what are you doing awake?"

He flashes her a knowing look underneath his helmet, " _You're_  awake."

Ghost pauses, looking around before shrugging, "...Touché."

She walks closer to join him while he turns back to the radio. They sit in silence for many moments between the crickets and the sounds of Wash trying to fix the comm tower before he tilts his helmet towards her, "Nightmares?"

Ghost shakes her helmet, "Not tonight. More like... a memory. Not a particularly sad one if under any normal circumstances."

"What was it about?" When he's met with the silence, he looks back at her, "...If you don't want to talk about it--"

"No, it's okay," she sheepishly lowered her head while playing with her fingers, "I um... I keep dreaming about him. Nightmares, too. I just buried my brother, or at least, the  _shell_  of what was left of him. Deep down, I think I lost him a long time ago. And yet... after losing Leonard, I'm not bombarded with any nightmares about him. It's just North."

Wash continues to tinker in silence while replaying her words in his head. He obviously never talks about why he never sleeps and what he dreams about, but Ghost is more open than him when it comes to certain things, and to process all that she's been going through burns Wash with sympathy. When he remembers what he went through after finding out North was gone, he did the exact same thing he did when finding out everyone else was dead, and that was move on because he still had a job to do. He's not saying it was a healthy way to cope, but with Project Freelancer breathing down his neck to clean up their messes for them would do a number on anyone and he was glad Ghost didn't have to go through that, "Between you dying again, coming back, and losing your memories, you never actually had the time to mourn North's death, have you?"

Ghost bites her lip, "...No. I guess not."

"That's why you're not yourself right now. Between losing your brother and finally sitting down to mourn over losing North, your body and mind are trying to process these losses at the same time." He's met with silence again and continues on failing at fixing the radio. 

"David..." he nearly jumps out of his skin when he hears her speak again. He had initially wondered if she had gone back inside after so many long minutes of being quiet. When Wash turns back around, feeling a shiver go down his back at the use of his real name, he's met with Ghost without her helmet on. Her bed head covers the majority of her face, but he can clearly see the tears and trembling lip as she stares down at the helmet in her lap, picking away at the purple accented paint. He never asked, but he knew why she decided to paint her armor in those colors. He knew it was her own way of remembering North even though she painted her armor green and purple during a time when her memories were wiped. She had painted her armor during Blood Gulch and even though she couldn't remember why she had chosen those colors, it all made sense after gaining her memories back. 

"I can't lose anyone else," she looks up from the helmet to show the tear tracks running down her face, "I don't think I could take it."

Wash lowers his helmet before sighing, "You could. You're the strongest person I know."

"Don't say that bullshit to me," she answers after wiping her tears away and standing up, clutching her helmet, "That sentence has been repeated in every movie and book I could ever think of and it's almost never true."

~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, after retreating back to her room to put on some fresh clothes and appear as though she had slept, Ghost finds herself in Red base. She wasn't sure if she just wanted to see how they were doing or was just using their idiocy for entertainment so she wouldn't fall asleep. 

"You're an idiot."

"Am I Simmons, or am I just a man who's willing to ask the hard questions?" Grif challenges his partner, leaning up against the wall of their makeshift base right beside Ghost.

"You're definitely an idiot."

"You're both idiots," Sarge pipes up while working on the bottom half of what Ghost can definitely realize is a robot. Red flags are going off inside her head, whether or not it was important, she didn't know. Was another robot a bad idea? Or maybe Sarge is using crucial parts they could use for the radio tower. Either way, she was too tired to figure it out, "Now keep it down, I'm tryin' to focus."

Grif continues explaining, "Terminator, The Matrix, Battlestar Galactica, everything points to robot domination of the human race!"

"Well, technically some Cylons relied more on synthetic biology and not conventional robotics, but that was only in the series reboot. And you know those are pretty rare."

" _Fine_ , then Wall-E," Ghost wasn't sure which part she was impressed about; Grif understanding a word Simmons had just said or the fact he listed off fucking Wall-E. Obviously, she already knew that Grif is the only one who understands Simmons language as she had placed her bets with Tucker as to when the orange and maroon soldiers would get together, so maybe she was impressed with the latter, "It doesn't matter. I just think it's strange that we're not already bowing down to our robot overlords."

Simmons sounded smug behind his helmet, "I'm a cyborg, you wanna bow down to me?"

"Bow chicka bow wow."

Both Simmons and Grif's helmets slowly turn in Ghost's direction, either from her comment or they're just now realizing she's there listening in on their lover's quarrel. Either way, she only shrugs defensively, "What?"

Grif turns back to Simmons, "Pass."

Simmons reverts to talking with a robotic voice in the form of mockery, "Fuck you, meat sack, your logic is flawed."

"You are the biggest fucking nerd. You know that right, I mean you really know that?" Ghost could practically hear how fond Grif's voice sounded while asking the question.

"You must construct additional pylons. Rrr-wrr-rrr."

"Okay, Optimus Prime," Ghost pushes herself from against the wall and stretches, "Not that this isn't fun, but I'm going to have a nap under some tree. Grif?"

"Since when did YOU start speaking my language?!"


	37. S.O.S.

_"Agent Indiana," the female Freelancer looks up at her new title to see the Director, Counsellor, and all the rest of the Freelancers all looking down at her from the observation window while she stood in the middle of the training room floor. Her jaw tightens underneath her helmet at the very sound of Leonard's voice, cold and apathetic, not even acknowledging her as his sister. From what she understood after she woke up from her coma, the Director doesn't want her going around and exposing him with all those 'deep and dark' secrets she might have dug up about him. And in his paranoid mind, she probably has.  
_

_"Choose a weapon of your choice," his voice echos throughout the training room just as the floor opens up around Indiana. Some tables rise up from the open floor and display numerous weapons to the new Freelancer while the Director continues, "Today, you will not only choose your weapon but use it to compete against the rest of your fellow Freelancers in one-on-one sparring matches."_

_Indi refrains from rolling her eyes even though the Director couldn't see it. Looking around at the weaponry, Indiana eyes a few potentials such as the rifle or the grenades or the-- is that a crossbow?! As tempting as that motherfucker looks, Indiana sticks with her gut and goes for the one weapon she's always felt comfortable with._

_"She's kidding, right?" York asks from the observation room as the others all look around weary of each other. The Director doesn't even react as he watches Agent Indiana reach over and picks out the two simple throwing knives before she looked up at him through the glass, indicating that she was ready._

_"No gun... no grenades... what is she, a gladiator?" Wash asks from beside South._

_"Agent Washington, you will be sparring against Agent Indiana first," the Director answers._

_While the others refrain from laughing, Wash tries to look not in the least bit scared as he recovers from the Director's blow with a weak salute, "Y-Yes sir."_

_When Wash leaves the room, York and North both exchange a look from underneath their helmets before the lock-pick shrugs and turns back to the window leading down to the training room floor. North hesitates before doing the same, watching Wash enter the training room down below. The youngest of the Freelancers chooses his usual gun from the table before the remaining weapons all lower into the ground to make room for the sparring match. Wash slowly walks up to the new recruit with ants in his step._

_"Hey, um, I'm David."_

_"Did he just say 'Hi, I'm David'?" Connie groans from the end of Freelancers lined up against the window to watch._

_"Idiot," South mutters while York shakes his head with a disbelieving chuckle._

_"I- I mean, Washington," Wash clears his throat when he noticed his slip up, "Agent Washington."_

_Indiana only tilts her helmet in response, but there is definitely a smirk hidden underneath. When she doesn't speak, Wash tries to force the stutter out of his voice as he points to the two knives in each of her hands, "Don't you want something... bigger? More effective?"_

_"Trust me," Wash doesn't know why he shakes when the new recruit finally speaks up, but she's amused nonetheless, "You don't want me to."_

_She moves into a lazy stance, helmet following her shoulder to stare at Wash through her helmet while her whole body is cocked to the side. Wash stiffens into his usual stance, aiming the barrel of his gun right at Indiana's head and the two wait. The other Freelancers look at the Director and wait before the Counsellor is the one to make final adjustments on his tablet before speaking into the intercom, "Begin."_

_But before Wash could even squeeze the trigger, Indi's figure becomes a blur as she swings back and throws the knife. Wash closes his eyes and fucking flinches, waiting for the hit that never comes. When he opens his eyes, however, he only needs to see the knife embedded in the barrel of his gun for two seconds before he drops it just in time as it almost blows up in his face. The small explosion sends the Rookie flying back into the wall and groaning. The match is over before Indiana could blink, juggling her remaining knife in one hand._

_"Shit!" York exclaims as everyone else steps back from the observation window in shock._

_"So, she's fast," Carolina notes while crossing her arms._

_"Lucky shot," South comments from beside her._

_"Luck and skill are two completely different subjects, Agent South Dakota," the Director cuts in with a stone frown, "Let's see which one you are when you go against Agent Indiana next."_

_"My pleasure," South grins cockily under her helmet and almost skips out of the room._

_"Don't bruise that pretty face too badly, South!" York calls after her._

_"Dude, that's my sister," North points out sternly._

_"I wasn't talking about your sister, man. I was talking about the new girl."_

_"How do YOU know if she's pretty?" Connie comments with an annoyed tone, all the while North just shakes his head in disapproval._

_"I have instincts."_

_Connie laughs sarcastically and turns back to the window once South entered the training floor, both of her hands occupied with two pistols filled with lockdown paint. South nods to the new recruit after Indiana retrieved her other knife from Wash's gun._

_"Good luck avoiding these bad boys," South boasted, "They sting like a bitch at first then it hardens and locks down your armor. Beginners always get hit and it's never **not**  fun to watch."_

_"Hey, how about you skip your evil bad guy monologue for later and take a position," Indiana retorts while getting into a different stance compared to the last match, now crouched close to the floor as if ready to run._

_South only growls and takes aim, making sure that she's the first to make a move when the Counsellor announced 'Begin.' The female Dakota carefully watches those knives as she fires at Indiana, each time narrowly missing as the new recruit starts sprinting towards her._

_Indiana dodges the paint for the most part but before she could reach South, both of her knives shining in the reflection of her visor, the female Dakota fires at Indi's feet and the new recruit comes screeching to a halt when her right foot is caught in the hardening paint._

_"Shit," Indiana mutters but gets back into the fight when she sees South come barreling towards her with her fist in the air now that her prey is caught in her web. Indiana grins under her helmet however when she realized South had dropped the guns in exchange for fists. Bad move._

_South lunges forward with her fist once she was close enough, but all Indi had to do was take a last-second dodge away from the fist to have South narrowly missing and bringing all of her might down on Indi's trapped foot. When South trips and falls over the hardened paint, she accidentally breaks it on impact while setting Indiana free of her trap. Now able to move around freely, Indi uses South still lying on the ground to her advantage as she flips her knife over and uses the blunt end of the handle to knock South out cold._

_"Oof! She's definitely gonna feel that one in the morning," York cringed._

_"Agent York, you're next."_

_"Yessir," York nods to the Director before walking off. And just like that, the sparring matches go on and on, Freelancer after Freelancer all leave the observation room never to return with victory as Indiana keeps walking away with her wins. After York's defeat came Connie's, then Florida's, then Wyoming's, even Georgia, Utah, Illinois, and even the triplets couldn't defeat her. By the time she got up to Maine, Indiana was full of adrenaline and arrogance._

_"You haven't told me your name yet," she grins behind her helmet at the overgrown Freelancer towering over her, "What is it? Alaska? Hawaii? Samoa? Oh, PLEASE let it be Samoa so I could call you The Rock!"_

_"Maine."_

_"Oh, that's not nearly as intimidating as Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson!" Indi shrugs, "Oh, well, Samoa's not even a part of the U.S. anyway. The missed opportunity of nicknaming you after a wrestler."_

_Maine decided that he didn't like how much Indiana talked during their match and decided that his best bet at defeating her was to get rid of those knives. Once they were knocked out of both of her hands, Indiana had no choice than to go against Maine in hand-to-hand combat. Which wasn't smart, as she came to realize that his strength overpowered her speed and stealth. But even though it got bloody, Indiana just barely made it out on top and eventually defeated Maine as well._

_When she went up against Carolina, no words or introductions were exchanged, just cold stares and endless fighting. It took almost two hours of the nonstop sparring before the Director declared a tie between the two female Freelancers. After Carolina left the floor with her head held high, Indiana was taking too much of her own time catching her breath and trying to rest up before the next match to realize that the match had already begun. Before she could stand up straight again, she feels the pressure of a bullet hit her chest and explode pink paint in her face. When she realized it was only a paintball, she relaxed a little and glared up at her opponent._

_She hadn't noticed Agent North Dakota hanging out in the rafters of the training area until now, still pointing his sniper rifle at her even after winning the match. Everyone who still hadn't been sent to the infirmary looked on in shock, staring between North and Indi for a solid few minutes before the Director called the sparring matches over for the day. When everyone exits the training area, North jumps down from his perch and walks up to Indiana, offering his hand as a truce._

_She eyes him suspiciously, only remembering him as the guy who helped her with her armor earlier in the locker room before reaching out and shaking his hand, "You didn't hesitate like the others. Why?"_

_He shrugs, "Cause you beat my sister. I have to save her pride, don't I?"  
_

_"Who? South?" Indiana scoffs while taking her helmet off to show North that she was grinning despite her defeat, "Had I known she was your sister, I wouldn't have gone so easy on her."_

_North laughs._

~~~~~~~~~

Wash didn't know why he decided that having Private Lavernius Tucker of all people help him fix the radio tower was a good idea. The only reasonable explanation would be that Tucker was a better idea than Ghost as of right now since last night, and god forbid he asked for help from  _Caboose_. Then again, Caboose might actually want to help compared to Tucker, who didn't even pass Wash any tools the last time he helped, instead he just rambled and complained about how they haven't been rescued yet.

But now it seems as though Tucker is making an effort, as shown when Wash sent him down below the radio tower to try and move some cables around to see if it'll boost the signal. Once he peers his helmet from out underneath the tower, the private calls out, "Okay how 'bout now?"

Washington flips the switch and doesn't get so much as a beep, "...Nothing."

"Hold on..." Tucker goes back under again, coming back out a few seconds later, "Okay, try it again."

Wash does just that and again, no sound, "Still nothing."

"Balls."

Wash walks closer to the edge to look down at the private, "Hey, what exactly are you doing down there?"

"Oh, you know-- calibrating."

Washington hears the high pitch in Tucker's voice and the realization hits him but it's not at all surprising, "...Calibrating."

"Yeah."

Wash lets the silence linger before deadpanning, "You haven't done anything have you."

"Dude, I don't know what I'm doing, or why you sent me down here."

"Right. Guess I should have expected that," Wash mutters to himself while looking back at the radio tower.

Tucker's voice calls back up to him, "Hey, Wash, I think we've got a situation."

"What kind of--" Wash looks back down and sees the Reds and Ghost all standing next to Tucker, "Oh."

"Good to see you, too," Grif mutters sarcastically.

"What do you want?

"Figured it'd be a good idea to come over and lend a hand," Sarge pitches.

But misses when Washington quickly shuts him down, "No, that's a terrible idea. Please, don't touch anything."

"But we could provide tech support!" Simmons screeches.

Sarge is still trying regardless, "Have you tried usin' any D-batteries?"

"Power isn't our problem. These battery arrays are solar," Wash informs.

"Well, there's your problem. This baby needs to be converted to diesel on the pronto!"

"Solar is field standard for communication systems."

"Well, ooh-la-la Private Hippie," Sarge mocks, "Hey, I got an idea: why don't we just plant a garden then? Grow some more canyon sun-dried tomatoes, and open a Farmer's Market. Then on the first Saturday of the month, when the UNSC chefs show up to buy some fresh sustainable produce, we just hop on board and ride back on the power of love."

Wash doesn't take the sarcasm lightly as his first instinct is to address his teammate, "Tucker, if they touch anything, or if he makes any more suggestions, pry them with your sword."

Tucker chuckles as he draws said sword, "Ha ha, now that's something I can get behind. Bow chicka bow w-- wait, no. No no no no no," he tries backing himself up before he notices Ghost in the corner of his eye and glares at her, "Don't even think about it."

She smiles underneath her helmet, "Too late, Bi-vernius Tucker."

"Fuck. You."

"I'm afraid you wouldn't like what I have to offer."

"GHOST!"

Sarge brings the conversation back around to him as usual, already use to whatever banter Tucker and Ghost have, "Fine, then I guess  _you_  don't want any help from our incredibly advanced robotic companion."

Out from behind Sarge appears the new and improved, Lopez Dos. Wash takes one look at him and the robot greets with a friendly robotic voice, " _Hola_."

"Nnnope!"

"Racist," Grif muttered.

"Hey tree-hugger, what if I told you it runs on recycled cooking grease? It's perfect, Grif sweats the stuff," Sarge informs.

"What else was I supposed to drink once we ran out of soda?"

Simmons offers the obvious, "There's always water."

"Please, what are we, cavemen?"

"I said no," Wash continues.

" _¿Seguro que no quieres ayuda? Esto parece ser una solución relevantemente simple_."

"Whoa, is that Lopez?" Tucker asks.

"Not exactly," Simmons answers before whispering so only Tucker could hear, " _This one isn't very smart_."

" _Enserio chicos. Estoy buscando en el problema. Yo puedo arreglarlo ahora_."

"How can you tell?"

"Oh, a mother knows," Sarge explains to Tucker while Ghost scrunches up her nose.

"That's... sweet?"

" _Bueno si nadie me va a parar voy a arreglar se torre de radio_."

Lopez Dos walks underneath the radio tower, but no one pays any attention to it as Wash is just trying to get the Reds away from here, "Why don't you three go check on our food supply. It's been a while since I've done a full inventory."

Simmons is insulted, "You can't just shove your bitch work on us. What do we look like?"

Tucker is quick to reply, "Uh... bitches?"

"Tucker, I want one hundred squats."

"What?" He looks up at Wash, appalled, "But it was leg day yesterday!"

"You're a space marine, Private. Every day is leg day," Wash simply replies while going back to work on the radio.

Tucker takes one look at the Reds in silence before sprouting out, "This is bullshit."

As Tucker begins doing his squats, Grif is quick to laugh at him, "Hah, who's the bitch now?"

"Your sister was my bitch if I remember correctly."

"What did you say to me, bitch?"

"No one is a bitch, now both of you be quiet," Wash snaps from up above them.

Grif was quiet of all of two seconds before muttering, "Simmons is kind of a bitch."

"Hey, what the fuck!?"

"Ah, can it Private Bitch."

Simmons lowers his head at Sarge, "Yes, Sir."

Both and Grif Tucker think the same thing and say as much out loud, "Bitch."

Washington has had just enough of these morons as he screams, " _I said, be quiet!_ "

In his rage, Wash hits the radio and it starts working with the clear sound of static protruding from the speakers. Everyone is suddenly quiet now as Tucker stops doing his squats in utter shock. Grif says out loud what they were all thinking, "Holy shit."

Wash's anger floats away as disbelief and joy replaces it, "It's working, I- I don't know what I did but it's working."

Lopez Dos then comes out from underneath the radio tower, " _¡Camaradas! ¡He reparado la torre de radio! ¿Estás satisfeco con mi actuación?_ "

"Lopez, you're ruining the moment," Sarge shoots him down.

Wash doesn't waste any time while speaking into the radio, "Mayday, mayday, this is Agent Washington, can anybody read me, over."

When there isn't an immediate response, Grif is quick to assume, "Maybe they're screening our calls."

Simmons turns to him, "What do you mean 'they,' who is 'they'?"

"I don't know, people who know us?"

Tucker turns to him, "What?"

"Look, I wouldn't pick up the phone if any of you fuckers called me."

Washington continues trying to make contact, "Mayday, mayday, we are survivors of a shipwreck and are in need of immediate rescue, please respond."

"Don't call them back right away, you gotta wait or else you'll look desperate!" Tucker comments.

Simmons turns to him, "But we  **are desperate**."

" **Everyone shut up!** " Wash screams down at the troopers.

"Whoa," Grif muttered while Wash is now frantically talking into the radio.

"Mayday mayday, this is Agent Washington and the Red and Blue troopers of Project Freelancer. We are stranded, does anyone copy? Mayday this is Agent Washington, I am a soldier. Is anybody out there? Can anybody hear me?"

Almost after each break, Wash is met with no response and the panic starts to settle within him, until suddenly a muffled voice slowly crackles and responds from the radio,  _"Hello, is somebody there?"_

"Yes!" Wash shouts in victory, "Yes, we're here, do you read us?"

_"Hello? Is this a prank call?"_

"No no no, this is real. Please, you have to listen to me, my men and I are shipwrecked."

Simmons decides to pitch in, "It's an emergency!"

"Blackhawk down!" Grif yells.

Sarge, too, "Code red!"

The radio fizzes a moment before the voice responds,  _"What like a lightish red?"_

The silence that follows throughout jungle is unnerving as Tucker slowly asks, "...What the fuck did he just say?"

The now-familiar voice continues,  _"Cause I mean, red has a pretty broad spectrum. There's scarlet, vermillion, like a deep burgundy."_

Sarge quickly walks up onto the radio tower and joins Wash by the speakers, "Donut, is that you?"

_"Sarge? **Oh hey, guys!**  What have you all been up to?"_

"We're stranded in the middle of the jungle with dwindling food and limited supplies."

_"That sucks."_

"No shit, dickhead!" Grif yells from down below.

"Donut," Sarge continues with a serious tone, "I need you to listen to me. You need to send help! Call Command."

_"Command? I think I know a guy if you wanna turn this call into a three-way."_

"No! Don't do that. I need you to write down these coordinates."

Wash slowly backs away from the radio and starts talking back down at the others with a confused tone in his voice, "Who is Donut again?"

"Cheery guy, pink armor?" Simmons offers a description while Grif adds onto it.

"Kind of stupid."

Tucker trails off, "And a little..."

Washington doesn't even question it as it dawns on him, "Wait, did I shoot him once?"

Grif smirks, "Bingo."

"Got it. And he's competent enough to trust with our lives?"

Turning back to Sarge and the radio, Wash could hear Donut's voice on the other end,  _"Sorry, did you say five, or nine?"_

"I said eight."

_"Oh."_

Ghost also pitches in on ways to describe Donut, "He was also Tucker's boyfriend for a short time."

"I. Will fucking. Stab you... and not in a good way."

Washington chooses to ignore this while stepping back up to the radio, "Right. Okay, Donut, those are our last known coordinates, but be sure to let the rescue team know that we've got no clue where we actually landed."

_"Don't worry guys. No matter how deep the bush, Private Donut always finds his man."_

Washington and Sarge exchange a look then stare at the radio in uncomfortable silence until Sarge just sighs in defeat, "Roger that, son."

The signal starts to fade as Donut throws in another question,  _"What was that? You're breaking up!"_

"Just send help as fast as you can!" Wash tries rushing in before the signal dies.

_"Okey dokey!"_

Donut's voice is suddenly cut off when the radio signal dies entirely. The jungle is quiet again until Grif breaks the silence, "So, what happened?"

Sarge steps forward, "Well, boys, I don't wanna jinx this or anything like that but..." he jumps down onto the solid ground with the rest of the sim troopers while yelling in victory, " _W_ _e're gonna be rescued!_ "

"Woohoo!"

"Woohoo!"

"Alright!"

"Kickass!"

"Yeah!"

"Yeah, real good, I can't wait to eat a hot dog!"

Washington tries to calm them, "Guys--"

But Sarge wasn't helping, "There's no possible way anything could go wrong! Everything is going to be good forever!"

Simmons starts jumping up and down beside Grif while Tucker drives the jeep in donuts in celebration of his past lover coming to rescue them. Ghost's words, not mine.

"Forever's a long time to the end of days!"

"Yay!"

"Everything in the past to go by tells me that's too good to be true but fuck it I'm excited anyway!"

"Guys, it could still be a few days before they-"

"Let's eat all our food rations tonight, and then fire all of our excess ammunition indiscriminately into the air to celebrate!"

Everyone present except for Wash and Ghost starts firing their guns into the air, "Yeah, just like Al-Qaeda did it!"

"I already did it last week!"

"And then, let's fix up that old Warthog that's been hanging near our base."

Grif and Tucker start cheering before they immediately stop and stare at Simmons, "Hah-y, what?"

"So that we can crash it into the other Warthog because fuck it!"

"Yeah!"

"Yeah-o!"

"Yeahah, oh yeah, yeah violence."

Washington is close to done mothering these idiots as he continues trying to put some sense into them, "Listen, let's not get our hopes up just yet."

Tucker is too fucking happy to care and practically beams up at Wash, "Aw, come on, Wash, lighten up. We did it, we made contact!"

Ghost turns to Wash and expects him to shut the small victory down before she notices the way Wash seemed to ease up on Tucker's words and slowly, he gives in, "Well... it  _is_  the first good news that we've had in a while."

Wash jumps down from the radio tower to join the others just as Caboose runs up to them, cheery and all out of breath, "Hey, everyone!"

"Caboose! Where've you been?" Wash asked.

"Yeah, I went on a walk like you said. And now, everything is gonna be good, forever!"

"Told ya so," Sarge comments.

Wash isn't buying it, "Wait, Caboose, you were miserable, what happened?"

Caboose laughs to himself while looking around at his friends, "Well, where are my manners? I haven't even introduced him."

Washington and Ghost seem to be the only ones who are suddenly alarmed by that, "Introduced who?"

Caboose spins around and starts calling out, "Freckles! Come!"

Everyone turns in the direction he's looking at just as Caboose whistles and two, giant metal feet approach, and slowly, as the ground shakes underneath its feet, everyone slowly looks up to reveal a giant killer robot.

Caboose doesn't appear alarmed at all as he excitedly introduces his new pet, "Everyone, I would like you to meet Freckles! Freckles- say hello."

Freckles spins and somehow grows in height by standing taller when his scanners land on Grif and Simmons, " **Enemy soldiers detected.** "

Freckles starts zeroing in on the Reds and so Caboose quickly tries calming him down, "No, those aren't enemies Freckles, those are Grif and Simmons. Our enemy."

Dammit Caboose, " **Firing main cannons.** "

"No! Bad Freckles! Down."

Freckles slowly powers down and lowers to the ground, only looking at Caboose, **"Yes, Master Blue.** "

"Bad Freckles," Caboose mutters before turning to the rest of the crew, "So- what're you guys up to?"

The only response he got was Grif nearly shitting himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very sorry for how long it's been! This morning I woke up with the sudden urge to update and here it is! I hope you've enjoyed it so far! If you want, I'll try to update faster this time around!


	38. House Divided & Multiplied

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's word count is 7,731... so ye be warned. Enjoy!

_The Mother of Invention appears to be under attack with opposing soldiers slowly making their way through the ship. They make it to the training room and a bunch of Freelancers are there to fight them off, firing every gun they own in retaliation. Wash looks as though he's pinned and there is no one to back him up. So when he pops out to fire back, he immediately regrets it as he is shot in the chest. Wash falls to the ground with a grunt and when his hand retracts from his wound, he's been hit with the horrifying truth._

_"Really, Indi?! Pink?!"_

_"It's not pink! It's lightish red!" She calls back to him from her hiding place, reloading her paintball gun with a wide grin under her helmet while firing over at York._

_Wash is not impressed, dreading the hours of scrubbing he'll have to do to get the pink paint out of his armor. He growls in response, "North, permission to kill her?"_

_Almost immediately, another paintball gets Wash in the chest again, sending him back, but he realizes that this time the paint is blue. Looking up, Wash sees North in the rafters still aiming his sniper at him while reloading._

_"Permission denied," was North's response with an amused tone.  
_

_An alarm goes off halfway through the paintball fight that declared the training session over. Everyone packs up and meets all together in the War Room where the Director and Counselor are waiting for them. Leonard Church, as stoic as ever, only congratulates them with a disappointed frown, "Excellent work, agents. Today's exercise showed quite the improvement in teamwork and strategy."_

_The Counselor notes this on his touchpad while secretly adding something about he's noticed how well Agent's North and Indi work together for future reference while adding onto the Director's compliments, "Unfortunately, we had to cut today's session short as we have reliable intel to suggest we have a mission at hand."_

_"Huh... last-minute mission? Interesting..." CT muttered._

_"It will require stealth and the task of blending in. Your mission is to go undercover with false identities as our targets have hidden themselves inside a nightclub posted on the Vegas Quadrant."_

_"Incognito in Vegas?" York laughs while fist-bumping South, "Hell yeah! I'm all for it!"_

_"But, Sir," Carolina stepped up, "We've never trained out of our armor before."_

_"Oh, come on, Carolina," York half whined, "It shouldn't feel too strange. After all, didn't we first meet at a club called Erre--"_

_"What if we're not ready?" Carolina cuts in while still addressing the Director._

_"Uh, by 'we' do you really mean us and not you?" South chuckled darkly, but no one doted on her. After all, she wasn't wrong._

_"Our recent tests have shown that every agent here has the capability of surviving in every environment, every situation, and every state of affairs," the Director informs his top agent, "Even though you have trained immensely on your armor and enhancements, that does not mean you are no longer a soldier without it. You have been trained on how to survive under stressful and unimaginable conditions as soldiers, but as agents under Project Freelancer, I need you to survive under more than just that. I need you to prove to me that you can survive under the simplest of tasks such as an undercover operation. Do I make myself clear, Agent Carolina?"_

_"Yes, sir."_

_"Excellent. Now the Counselor and I have formed up a plan for this operation, and for the mission to run smoothly, we will need a diversion. Any volunteers?"_

_"Eh, I'll give it a go," Indiana stepped forward with a certain strut in her step and a half-shrug, "Sounds like fun. What do I gotta do?"_

~~~~~~~~~

_**"Ya know when I offered to be the distraction, this was not what I had in mind."  
** _

_North will have to agree with Indiana on this one. For one, none of the Freelancers felt at all comfortable in the social, normal, fun club setting. Well, maybe all except for York and Wash. They appeared to be enjoying themselves. But to the others who have only known the military for the majority of their lives, they just felt out of place in a natural setting such as booming music, bright, nauseating lights, and crowded rooms full of sweaty bodies._

_**"Well, what were you thinking?"  
** _

_Carolina's voice answers to Indi's through the piece in North's ear as he sits awkwardly to the side of the crowded dance room, leaning against a table with his dress shirt stressing past his pants and belt. He had a necktie loosely wrapped around him, which didn't look as grungey as maybe York's, who didn't even tie his and just let it hang loosely over his shoulders and Wash's, who had somehow lost his and had unbuttoned some of his shirt to show off some collar bone. However, the most scandalous thing that North has seen all night would have to be Maine's bowtie, hands down._

_**"I don't know, screaming, killing, the usual,"**_   _Indiana's voice replied in North's earpiece._

_**"If it makes you feel better, Indi. You look absolutely stunning."  
** _

_North wasn't sure if he could even agree with York on that one. The Dakota male twin had a perfect view of the bar from where he stood across the dancefloor, and at that bar, Indiana was sitting alone in a tight, shoulderless black dress that barely made it past the middle of her thighs. She wore excessive, sultry makeup along with curling her short hair. From here, North could see that Indi was uncomfortably trying to pull her dress down further to cover up just a little bit more skin, her face full of makeup twisted in disgust while glaring down at her drink as if it offended her. North doesn't know if he even likes a dress on Indi. Sure, she looked pretty in it, but it doesn't exactly scream Indi. And North thinks that Indiana looks absolutely beautiful in anything that screams Indi. Whether it was the armor or nothing, he didn't really have a preference._

_Indi's voice was full of sarcasm when she responded,_   _ **"Thanks, York. Is that your first move for every female soldier with a gun? Cause I can promise you that you're on your way to being shot."**_

 _South chuckled into the earpiece while sitting opposite of her brother,_   _ **"Why do you think Carolina punched him yesterday?"**_

_The conversation didn't get very far as Carolina was quick to hiss into comms, **"Quiet! The targets are approaching the bar!"**_

_Almost immediately, Indi stiffened her shoulders and sat up straighter, absentmindedly twirling around the fancy umbrella in her drink just as two gentlemen in straight-out-of-the-press black suits sit near her and waved the bartender over. The taller out of the two was not as chatty with the bartender as the shorter one was, so he left the talking to his associate while he just awkwardly sat there waiting for his drink. Indi decided that this one would be the easier target and scooted closer without being completely obvious. She calls the bartender over after the young man had given the two other gentlemen their drinks and vocally announced that she would pay for everything they planned on drinking tonight. When they both looked over at her with confused and suspicious glances, she only smiled and replied in a fake accent, "It looked as though you boys just got off the clock. It's the least I could do. You two look like you could use a break."_

_Both men were thrown off guard by the genuine offering and York's voice expresses so in comms, **"Huh, usually, the undercover sexy spy would go in for the flirting right away."**_

_**"If anything, the flirting would be just as suspicious because of those spy movies,"**  Connie comments from the dancefloor as she pretended to be partners with Wyoming._

_"Thank you, Miss," the talkative, short man continued while taking careful sips of his drink, "I think it's safe to say my friend and I have never been given such kindness."_

_"Well, where I'm from, we're known for it," Indi flashed him a toothy smile._

_"And where would that be?"_

_"Minnesota."_

_"That would explain the accent," the shorter man grins._

_Indi giggles but noticed how she couldn't get the tall, awkward one to crack so she tries flipping the conversation around, "Although I can't pinpoint either of yours. Where are you boys from?"_

_"I'm from West Virginia myself," the shorter one replied._

_"Mountain mama~~" Indi sings softly and grins triumphantly when the shorter one laughs._

_"Yeah, I guess that's all that we're known for."_

_"On the contrary," she pipes up, "I've been there once and you guys have one of the most gorgeous landscapes. Long, winding roads, steep, green hills, huge forests. My phone couldn't get any reception, however."_

_"Aw, but that's the best part!" The shorter man exclaims, "No phone, no internet, just nature and music, and farmland and small towns--"_

_"You honestly sound like my type," Indi quirks an eyebrow and the shorter man just shakes his head with a grin._

_"If only there were straight men out there who actually fit that description, I would happily point them out for you."_

_"No worries," a twinkle in her eyes was seen even through the darkness of the club and blinding lights, "But I can point out one for you if you want? He's a friend of mine that came with me tonight," she then turns away and points out York and Wash sitting out at the very far corner of the club, "See those two gentlemen? The one with the brown hair is my cousin. He's charming and he's funny like me. You would like him."_

_"Why thank you, I appreciate it," the shorter one nods to her then addresses the tall, quiet one still sitting in between him and Indi, "I'm going to use up that kind woman's hospitality. Do me a favor and be nice. Entertain her for all her troubles."_

_Indi wanted to smirk but knew it would be suspicious if she watched the shorter man walk away towards York and Wash. She could already hear York's threats now after they report back to base. He's so going to kill her for this._

_When she looks back, the tall one has still said nothing and just continues to look ahead while gingerly sipping his free drink. Strong and silent are great qualities... if you weren't the bad guy. So Indi has already jotted him down for the most dangerous of the two gentlemen so she tries to be courteous._

_"I don't think I caught where you're from, handsome."_

_She expected him to not respond and after waiting for a few moments, she slowly got off the chair, "But no worries. I get that I'm a stranger and you don't need to get personal with me. But I keep my promises and I meant what I said earlier. Help yourself to whatever you want to drink and I'll happily pay for it."_

_**"Indiana, what are you doing? Don't walk away from him!"**  Indi heard Carolina nearly panicking through her hidden earpiece but ignored it as she patted the tall man's shoulder and started walking away._

_"...Thank you."_

_Indi secretly smiled in victory, her back still turned to her target, "You're very welcome, handsome."_

_And so she slips onto the dancefloor, immediately finding Connie amongst the mix and shooing Wyoming away so the two women could dance and openly talk about the plan now that they were far enough away from their targets and the music was loud enough._

_"Why did you walk away?" CT asked as she playfully spun Indi to put on a show while smiling through her act._

_"Because I was clearly getting nowhere with him using that tactic," Indi explains to both CT and everyone listening in on the earpiece, "So I'm using a different one. If you look over my shoulder I bet he's staring at me, yes?"_

_Connie does so and nods, "Yes," but then covers her mouth and giggles at Indi while making it look like they were gossiping about him._

_"It's a classic scenario where according to the creepy jerks, the girl is acting too nice so she obviously wants it, and by the time I pretend to go out and have a smoke break, he'll follow me. We'll have him by then and then York can take care of the other one."_

_"York isn't with the other one anymore," Connie informed her, "While you were flirting with G.I. Joe, York had excused himself to the shitter and Wash has been doing all the flirting with the chatter-box."_

_When Indi looked over CT's shoulder, she had come to the same conclusion as the other female had just described. In the distance, in the far corner of the club, the talkative short gentleman was striking up a conversation with young Wash, the blonde Freelancer happily obliging him and openly laughing as the gentleman tells a joke. A small cord is struck within Indi as a wave of protectiveness towards the youngest Freelancer flows throughout her body but quickly shields it with a fake shiver to make it appear as though Connie had whispered something dirty in her ear now that their bodies were impossibly closer._

_"Okay. Wash can take care of him."_

_**"Indi, this wasn't the plan,"** North sides with a panicking Carolina as she goes on about protocols and strategies._

_"Plans change, North," Indi sighs while looking towards Wash's table, "Wash, tap your finger two times if you understand the new plan."_

_Almost instantly, Wash taps his finger against the tabletop two times as he's reaching for the short gentleman's drink and seductively taking a sip out of it, making his flirtatious target grin. Indi tries not to breathe in a huge sigh of relief and plays it off with another spin and sway of her hips. Her and CT dance together for a few more songs, and after Connie confirms that the tall, quiet target was still watching, Indi takes the other woman's clutch and openly digs around for a cigarette, finding one stick and a light before nodding to CT with a smile and an added laugh before walking off the dancefloor. Indi sees the push door with an exit sign above it that leads to the back alley behind the club and makes a beeline for it. She just makes it right outside before she is roughly grabbed and slammed against the brick wall of the club._

_"Ow! Wha-?"_

_"Shut up, slut," the taller man growls out and it honestly stuns Indi. For one, he was towering over her more now that they weren't sitting down at the bar and for two, she didn't know this man was capable of so many syllables, "I know you're some sort of agent."_

_Oh shit._

_"What are you? FBI? Local law enforcement?" He nearly claws up her face just trying to dig out the comm device hidden in her ear. The initial shock is enough to keep her frozen when he grabs the earpiece and slams it down on the floor to smash it. He then roughly grabs her again and spins her around to have her chest pressed up against the wall. He steps into her space, rubbing lazily against her backside as he growls into her ear, "How many more of you are there, huh? How many?!"_

_"No one, I don't know what you're talking about! That's just a hearing aid, Mister!" Indi pleads despite already being cornered now that her earpiece was discovered and destroyed, "It's just me and my cousin here tonight!"_

_"I saw your cousin walking off to take a piss earlier," the tall man seethes through gritted teeth, "And then the man with him is the one currently inside sucking up to my associate. So far, your lying is shit. Who is the other one? Tell me now!"_

_"He's my brother!" Indi cries even though she wasn't thinking clearly enough to come up with a better answer._

_"What's his name?" Indi shakes her head but he grabs it and pulls her hair, making her yelp, "His name!"_

_"Leo!" She sputters out because she can't help it. It's the first name she could think of. It's the first person she wished was actually here right now..._

_"Well, whether or not you and your 'brother' are actually agents, you've already seen too much regardless. So you and your brother will be coming with us tonight to continue... entertaining us."_

_Indi whimpers as he enunciates by adding a rougher roll of his hips up against her body and wondered why she felt so helpless. Maybe because no other Freelancer realizes she's in trouble yet. Maybe because she didn't have a single weapon on her. Maybe because if she made the wrong move, the guy could notify his friend and hurt Wash. Maybe because she was out of her armor._

_Her armor..._

_Director, you son of a bitch!_

_"Let's go back inside to join the others, shall we?" The man growled while snatching her arm with his hand and gripping onto it tightly, pulling her with him as they head back inside._

_Wash was right where Indi left him as her captor knew exactly where to go join him and the other target. Indi takes extra care to not look in any of her other teammates' directions in fear of giving away their cover while feeling worried as the two of them walk up to Wash's table and he looks equally concerned when he looks up to see the panic in her eyes._

_The shorter gentleman looks confused while glaring up at his partner, "What's going on?"_

_"We need to leave. Now. Someone was being a little naughty," the tall one pulls on Indi's arm and it took a lot of effort for her not to scream in pain as his grip tightens._

_The short man almost looks at Indi with disappointment and sighs, staring back at Wash with sad eyes, "Pity. I liked him, too..."_

_"Check his ear. The right one."_

_"Gladly," the shorter one suddenly smirked and leaned forward to kiss Wash. As Wash helplessly lets the man kiss him, the short man is reaching around his shoulders and cupping his face, hiding Wash's ear from any prying eyes. The man breaks the kiss and leans away when he triumphantly finds the earpiece now settled in his hand, clicking his tongue, "You just earned yourself a ride back to my place, darling."_

_The taller man growls into Indi's ear, "Now is that one a hearing aid, too?"_

_And with that, the short man drops the earpiece into his drink and stands up, dragging Wash up along with him, "Let's go. The both of you."_

_Wash and Indi exchanged panicked looks. They didn't know if the two men had weapons and if they did then that could mean endangering any innocent club member caught in the crossfire. All the more reason Wash and Indi felt helpless about doing nothing. The two men practically shove the two Freelancers out the door and push them into the first taxi they see._

_"Here's the address," the short man hands the driver a slip of paper and a huge stack of cash before squeezing into the back seat with the rest of them, "Just drive."_

_"Sure thing, man," the driver with the baseball cap responds with such a chipper tone of voice... one that sounded so familiar that Wash and Indi nearly sighed in relief when they noticed the familiar wink he sent back to them from the rearview mirror._

_God bless Agent York._

~~~~~~~~~

_After reporting back to the Director about the mission, Indiana wanted nothing more than to get out of this fucking dress._

_York had indeed driven them to the address he was given which appeared to be a warehouse, but he decided to stay a little longer and that's when the Freelancers sprung the trap and caught the bad guys. When the guys were arrested and the warehouse confiscated, the Freelancers found more than what the Director had ever hoped for and all of the intel and supplies found in the warehouse were brought to the Mother of Invention for experimentation. But it didn't exactly save Wash and Indi from being groped and taunted the entire taxi ride over there. York had even swerved the car a couple of times to try and keep the creeps off of his friends as he gripped the steering wheel angrily. But in the end, Wash and Indi pulled through physically unharmed and even hugged for a long time after the two men were cuffed and sent back to base for questioning._

_But Indiana still felt utterly disgusting not to mention she thought it definitely wasn't professional to stand in front of her brother wearing a skimpy dress that was used to lure his target into his agents' claws. If that doesn't make anyone feel dirty than she doesn't know what will. She honestly felt naked without her armor, and she didn't even have armor until she joined Freelancer, which just makes her all the more aware of how much she's changed. And it's not like she could talk to anyone about it lest they find out about her relations with the Director.  
_

_Freelancer after Freelancer started bidding each other goodnight and heading into their rooms for the evening, and Indi wasn't ashamed to be one of the firsts to lock herself into her room. Sighing, she leans her back against the door and took a moment to breathe, looking around her room and spying her armor stacked neatly in the corner. Huffing, she even says out loud, "Where were **you**  today?"_

_As she goes to push herself off the door, there's a knock coming from the other side. One, simple knock, then after she counted three seconds, another knock on the door. She waits another two seconds and sure enough, there was the third knock and her lips suddenly curled into a smile. Without hesitation, she flips around and unlocks the door, barely taking a breath before the door opens and North steps inside. Immediately, he smothers her in his embrace, closing the door behind him with his foot without tearing himself away from her. She takes in a deep breath while burying her head into his neck, taking in his scent as she threw her arms around him._

_"If it wasn't you, I probably would have never fucking opened that door to anybody ever again," she admits shamelessly._

_"I know. I'm sorry for what happened today," he muttered into her hair._

_"Not your fault. It's all part of the job, right?"_

_"Doesn't matter. It clearly made you uncomfortable."_

_"I'm a big girl, North. I can take care of myself."_

_"That doesn't mean you have to," North finally pulled away while resting his hands on her shoulders, looking straight into her eyes and as expected, they were green and sad. His chest squeezes before he lands a kiss on her forehead, wanting nothing more than to get the gross stench of that bar and other males out of her hair, "Come on. Let's get you out of that dress and into some pajamas."_

_"As tempting as that sounds, I'd rather smell like you than a bar," she reached up and was only able to kiss his chin without getting on her toes, "Let's take a shower."_

_"Are you sure?"_

_"Absolutely, but I admire you for being a gentleman," she smiled, her eyes shining in such a soft moment. She may not need one, but it didn't hurt to have a knight in shining armor by her side. And what's even better than a knight? Fucking Agent North Dakota, "Do me a favor?"_

_"Anything."_

_Her smile lessens as a cloud passed her eyes, "Make me forget."_

_He tries to smile for her but knows that she doesn't want pity from him. She's not like that. She's so much more. North leans down to gently kiss her, and before long she's leading him to the shower by gripping the end of his tie._

_After they had cleaned up and dressed in some matching sweat pants and shirts, the two Freelancers settle in their bed for the night and were just about to drift off in each other's arms when the door is suddenly flying open and Wash waltzes through in matching attire with an extra blanket and a bowl of popcorn. Where the hell did he even find that? Before both alarmed Freelancers in bed could ask, Wash steps up onto the bed and plops down at their feet._

_"Wash, what the fuck?!" Indiana finally finds her voice._

_"Hey, you guys got the better TV! And I heard that Star Trek Volume 300 is on."_

_And it's true. Indi's -now also North's- room had the wide screen that nearly filled up the wall opposite of her bed and it amazes her that no one's asked why that is. Mostly because it doesn't hurt to have blackmail on the Director to get some luxuries into her room, but Indi's still cautious as to why no other Freelancer has complained about it yet. And maybe they don't because that means coming into her room and bugging her, hence why Wash is here._

_"Kill. Him," she muttered into North's shirt._

_"Aww, love you too, Indi!" Wash pitches._

_North laughs after the initial shock of having an intruder is over and laughs even louder when slowly, the rest of the Freelancers start trickling in one by one, or else coming in pairs. They were all out of their evening mission gear and were now freshly cleaned and sporting their standardized sweat pants and shirts. Indiana is now starting to regret ever admitting that she was with North. It's not like she had a choice in the matter anyway when one day York mentioned it to the pair of them in the mess hall, clearing stating, **"What? You didn't think you could actually hide that, did you? Cause you two are classic lovebirds who are always staring at each other when the other isn't looking. It's actually kind of weird."**_

_After that, North and Indi didn't hide it as much but they still kept it professional in public and out on the field. They also kept the secret knocking technique just to be safe, but at this moment, it doesn't even matter as the rest of the Freelancers found it fitting to intrude on their privacy. Indi flips off every single Freelancer that enters their room while burying her face deeper into North's chest. Slowly, the rest of the Freelancers pile in to watch the movie, all teasing Indiana while she begs North to at least kick out his sister. Maine growls in the background somewhere during one part of the movie, startling Indiana and making her frantic as she didn't remember him ever entering her room, "Not you, too, Maine!"_

_As everything settles, however, Washington just had to look back at her with a mouth full of popcorn, "Oh, by the way. Happy birthday, Indiana."_

_She growls in response, "I hate you all."_

_CT chuckles, "So how's it feel to be old?"_

_"Thirty isn't old," York defends before revealing a grin, "It's ancient."_

_"Quiet!" Carolina orders, "I'm trying to watch the movie!"_

_It's quiet again before South looks down at her twin and Indiana snuggling, trying to hide her snarl with a wicked grin, "So! Any regrets, Grandma?"_

_"...Yeah, actually I do have one thing I regret never doing in my youth," Indi sits up, glaring at South in response, "I regret not fucking your brother just before you all walked into my room."_

_Everyone laughs besides South as she's trying not to pop a vein in her very flustered but equally enraged reaction.  
_

~~~~~~~~~

Ghost is used to waking up with headaches nowadays. With her mind and body trying to catch up with her memories and grief, even her dreams are bombarded with both memories and nightmares alike. All Ghost has to do is separate the reality from fantasy, but that's easier said than done.

Then again, it's probably a lot easier than stepping out of her room, scrubbing her bed head just as she witnesses Simmons of all people walk into the base without his helmet and smiling with only half of his mouth stretching as far as it can go with the metal plating on one side of his face.

"Oh! Good morning, Ghost!"

She stops dead in her tracks and stares, keeping eye contact with Simmons' matching green gaze. Her first reaction was to pinch herself to make sure she still wasn't dreaming because this is no way a reality. As Simmons keeps standing there and smiling, waiting for a response, Ghost's mouth opens and closes before she could finally find the right words, "Simmons, this is the moment where you're supposed to explain why you're here."

"That's an excellent observation! Why  _are_  we here?"

"Well, this is my base since I  _am_  part of Blue Team. I'm asking why  _you're_  in here."

"Oh! Well, that's because I decided to join the Blue Team."

"...What?"

"Yes! It's much cleaner and very organized over here!"

Okay, that doesn't surprise her since it is Simmons after all so she just nods and adds, "Alright... I'll keep the billion questions that are running through my head at bay for now... Just don't  _ever_  go in my room to clean up. Rest assured, I keep my own space tidy and in place for my personal use only."

"You got it! It's not like I've ever been or ever want to be in a girl's room anyway!"

"That explains why you settled for Grif," she muttered under her breath as she leaves to scout for some coffee and Tylenol.

After she fully wakes up from her nightmare hangover, Ghost puts on her armor and walks outside to find Caboose showing Tucker some of the special moves he taught Freckles. Oh yeah... the giant, homicidal military-op mantis was still here and actually following Caboose around like a lost puppy.

"Okay, Freckles, roll over!" At Caboose's bequest, Freckles rotates 360 degrees, but only from the waist up while the bottom half of him continues to aim towards Caboose.

" **Objective complete.** "

"That's cheating," Tucker groans.

Ghost shakes her head as Simmons appears on top of the base staring down at them, "Hey, Tucker!" 

Tucker glares up at him, "What!" 

"Do you have any idea when Wash is getting back? I have some suggestions regarding the upkeep of Blue Base."

Ghost scoffs, "Kiss ass... Oh my God, am I turning into Grif?"

Tucker rolls his eyes under his helmet, "I don't know and I don't care!"

"Well, I got two words for you buddy:  _chore wheel_."

"And I've got two words for you. How 'bout fuck off?"

" _Just think about it_. Wheel of chores."

Tucker looks over at Ghost after Simmons disappears back inside the base, "I hate my life."

"Tucker!" Ghost nearly flinches upon hearing how different Wash sounds in the present compared to her memories. It just always sets a heavy reminder of how badly she screwed up with him. 

Tucker doesn't appear disturbed by it, however, as he deadpans, "You know what, I take it back, I hate everyone else's lives. Wish they didn't have 'em. Oh my God, am I turning into Church?"

Ghost visibly shivered while patting his shoulder, "I think we need a vacation, buddy."

Washington joins them outside but is as stoic as ever, "Why aren't you running drills?"

"How do you know I didn't already finish them?"

"Because you're not on the ground complaining about irritated nipples."

"I'm telling you, my chest piece rubs right up against them. And not in a good way."

Ghost just snorts in response to Tucker's complaint, "At least you're not a girl."

Washington ignores Ghost's comment and continues to lecture Tucker, "Why do you refuse to take these things seriously?"

"Why can't you just let us do our thing?"

"I'm trying to make sure you're the best. That you're ready for anything."

"Why? Blue Team was just fine with being mediocre until you came along. What the fuck are you worried about?"

"It's just a feeling I... can't explain it," Wash hesitates.

"Really? 'Cause I bet I can. You're a paranoid, ex-special ops guy who's used to being betrayed on a weekly basis. Not much of a riddle, Wash."

Ghost gasps, "Tucker!"

He doesn't stop there, "Hey, next do you want to figure out the mystery of why Caboose isn't the team treasurer?"

Washington's voice turns to ice, "Oh, so we're going there?"

"Oh ho ho, bitch I already went there, and I took pictures."

"Ooooh gurrrrl," Caboose chimes in.

Wash is quick with a response, "Well I can't say I'm surprised,  _Lavernius_. You just always have to get the last laugh, mister  _quick-witted_ , mister sarcastic."

Ghost growls quietly, feeling as though she was being used as the middle ground here, "Wash, quit it!"

"If you spent as much time training as you do mouthing off, you could probably beat Freckles at arm wrestling."

"Don't be stupid! Freckles doesn't have arms, he has guns."

"And, paws!" Caboose happily boasts, "Freckles shake!"

Freckles lifts up one foot and takes a step forward, shaking the ground before retracting back and Caboose happily jumps around, "Get it! He shakes! It's awesome!"

"Caboose!" Tucker, Ghost, and Washington all yell in unison as the argument continues with Caboose replying nonchalantly, 

"Yeah, yeah we're still working on it."

Simmons finally decides to check and see what all the commotion outside was about and joins the circle, "Oh, hey Wash, I didn't know you were back."

Washington is honestly caught off guard for a few moments and forgets he was even arguing with Tucker while staring at the other man for help, "What is... why is he here?"

"I took the liberty of claiming the bunk closest to you. I hope you don't mind," Simmons perks up.

"I don't have time to deal with  _you_  right now, go away."

Simmons chuckles, "Good one, Sir. Oh hey, by the way, is it cool if I start calling you Sir?"

"Why is he still here."

"Beats me," Tucker responds with a shrug, "If I was him, I'd be as far away from this base as possible."

Ghost snarls, "Then how about you go and join the Red Team?"

Wash shoots a glare at Ghost from underneath his helmet, "Don't encourage him."

Simmons continues without even acknowledging their conversation, "You can call me Champ if you want. Or you know... son."

"Just ignore him," Tucker advises. 

"Or Sir Junior." 

"Jesus, you need to get laid," Ghost breathed.

"Look, as long as I'm the leader of this team I will do everything in my power to ensure your safety whether  _you_  like it or not," Wash continues while staring between Ghost and Tucker. 

The latter isn't satisfied with that answer, "We don't need you protecting us."

" **I know** , that's why I'm trying to help you."

"Help us with what, defending against attacks? No one is going to attack us!"

And just as he says that they all hear the familiar sound of a revving engine and then the following familiar Warthog leaping out from over the hill with Grif at the wheel and Sarge at the gun, chanting, "Attack!"

As the rest of the Red Team drives over a hill, they don't get very far as they directly drive into a boulder. Tucker lowers his head, "Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me."

Sarge glares down at his driver, "Dammit Grif, you forgot our theme music."

Grif deadpans, "Oh, right."

The orange soldier turns on the radio and the polka music starts booming, but Sarge just brushes it off, "Ah, forget it moment's passed."

Freckles rears up like a cat at the sight of the Reds, " **Enemy soldiers detected**."

Caboose makes slow movements around his big pet, "Uh... good Freckles... No murdering everyone."

Everyone holds their guns out, pointing them at one another as tensions were suddenly high as a kite. Grif awkwardly looks around from his seat behind the wheel, "Uh, I would just like to take this opportunity to point out, that  _this,_  was not my idea. Whatsoever, at all."

"You have literally the worst timing," Tucker muttered from behind his gun.

Sarge jumps down from his Warthog and pulls out his shotgun, "Screw it, thin mint, we're no longer fraternizing with the enemy!"

Tucker retracts his gun, appalled, "Thin mint?"

Grif ignores Tucker's comment, "Now see when he says 'we', imagine he's only referring to himself. Do not group us together."

Tucker keeps going, "Bitch my armor's aqua-! I think."

Washington keeps his gun trained on the Reds, "What the hell are you two doing?"

"Uh, again, not two, just him. I can't stress this enough," Grif mentions.

"You made me believe that Reds and Blues could coexist!" Sarge cries, "That we could work together as one people! That we could all get together, and be a little, purple."

"We can!" Wash stresses while Ghost absentmindedly grabs one of her purple accented shoulders with an offended look, " _We are_ , seriously, what the fuck is this about?"

"And since when did YOU ever coexist with a Blue?!" Ghost snaps at Sarge while still grabbing her shoulder.

"You kidnapped one of my men," Sarge accused.

Simmons noticed how everyone turned their heads in his direction and his voice matches his shocked expression, "Who- me?"

"He wasn't kidnapped, dipshit," Tucker explained, "He came over here by himself. We can't get him to leave."

Sarge slowly lowers his gun and his voice, "Is this true, Simmons?" 

"It's not your fault Sir, it's Grif's."

"What did I do?" 

"You're fucking disgusting, Grif," Simmons deadpans.

"Well yeah," the orange soldier agrees, "But I've always been like that. Sarge was the one that decided to take half the base for himself."

Simmons thinks about it and his voice rises, "Oh. Then I guess it is your fault, Sir."

"That makes you a traitor!" Sarge announces as he hops back on the main gun of the Warthog, pointing it directly at Simmons. 

"What!?" 

" **Threat level increased,** " Freckles announces with his guns starting to warm up, Caboose looking around nervously.

"Um, yeah, no reason for panic, everything's fine, might anyone have a rolled-up newspaper at the ready."

"You weren't kidnapped, you deliberately joined the enemy!" Sarge announces.

"But if he wasn't kidnapped, that would mean we were never the enemy in the first place," Tucker points out.

"Don't try and confuse me with your words, shamrock!'

" **I'm aqua!** "

Washington's voice softens while trying to control his team, "Tucker, calm down."

" _Me?_  These guys roll up in a fucking assault jeep, and you choose to yell at me?"

"Look, tensions, are high..." 

"No shit Washington, I'm tired of you bossing us around."

" _You_ ," Ghost corrects, "You mean tired of him bossing  _you_  around." 

Washington sighs with exhaustion, "Now, is not the time."

Tucker snarls, "You know, I disagree. We were having a talk when tweedle-dee and tweedle-fucking-idiot decided to interrupt, so let's finish this."

"There's nothing to finish!"

Grif nervously looks around, "Are we intruding on some sort of lovers' quarrel right now?" 

Ghost rolls her eyes under her helmet, "I'm glad I'm not the only one that's noticed."

Tucker ignores Ghost and Grif's comments, "You are the worst thing to happen to this team since Blue Boy over there decided to show up."

"I am a man!" Caboose objects, "Blue Man!"

"Leave Caboose out of this!" Ghost hisses at Tucker.

Simmons also backs her up, "You take that back, Wash is a great leader. I assume." 

Sarge doesn't appreciate that, " _Blasphemy!_ " 

Freckles lowers his big head even further, " **Deadly force authorized.** "

"Seriously, I would rather follow Caboose into battle than you," Tucker roars.

"Oh, really?!" Wash is suddenly fed up with it and starts screaming, "Then let's just make  _him_  the leader, see how much better off you are!"

"Wash, shut up!" Ghost hissed.

Caboose remains calm, "Well, I humbly accept your nomination and accept the position."

This time, only Washington and Tucker turn on Caboose at the same time, "Shut up!" 

Freckles hunkers down onto his legs, " **Do not talk back to your commanding officer**."

Tucker turns to Freckles in his fitting rage, "Wash and I are having an argument. I will be talking back to him. That's how arguments work, you fucking toaster."

" **Washington is not the commanding officer.** "

That statement stuns both Tucker and Ghost at the same time, "What?"

Washington is a little delayed, "What?"

" **In a unanimous decision by the Blue Team, Caboose has been promoted to Blue Leader. Captain Caboose is your commanding officer. Do not talk back to your commanding officer.** "

The whole canyon is quiet as the sudden dread sets in. Wash is the first to voice what they're all thinking, "Oh, fuck." 

Caboose continues with an assured tendency, "Well. Yeah. This is gonna be a lot of fun." 

Washington tries backtracking with a softer tone this time, "No, Caboose, you can't--"

Freckles only had to look at Wash before the Freelancer tries his very hardest not to flinch, "Look, Freckles, this is a misunderstanding."

"Caboose is Team Leader?" Simmons mutters while slowly backing away, "Fuck this." 

As Simmons starts walking away, Caboose joyfully calls after him, "Aw, don't worry, Simmons! As my first duty as Leader as the position of nomination, I say you can be on Blue Team, forever!"

Simmons tries walking a little faster, "No thanks, I'm good."

Freckles' head turns, " **Private Simmons.** "

"Eh-uh, oh no," Simmons shrinks. 

" **Deserting your post will designate you as AWOL, this designation is punishable by death.** "

" **WHAT!?** "

In the midst of all of this, Grif turns back to look at Red Team's leader, "Uh, hey Sarge?" Sarge looks back at him, " _Now_  the Blues have kidnapped Simmons."

"Then it's war!" 

Washington notices the way Freckles rears up at the sight of Sarg pointing a gun at him and can only assume the worst, "Wait, stop!" 

"Guys, cut it out!" Ghost screams.

Sarge doesn't pay attention to either of them, "Say hello to Robot Satan you mechanical son of a--"

Before he could finish his sentence, Freckles fires at the jeep and Grif has never moved so fast in his entire life, "Bail!" 

The jeep explodes just Grif gets out, but both he and Sarge are sent flying and Tucker's mind is suddenly alert, "Whoa!" 

Simmons starts running towards his captain, "Sarge!" 

Ghost follows him, "Grif!"

Caboose runs towards his robot pet, "Freckles, bad! Bad, down!"

Freckles goes to hunker back down, " **Primary threat eliminated.** "

Lopez Dos finally shows up to the party as he runs over the bridge towards them,  _"¿Cuál fue esa explosión? ¡MIERDA! ¿QUÉ HAS HECHO?"_

Simmons goes to help Sarge up with a worried tone of voice, "Sarge, are you okay?"

Sarge groans while slowly standing up, "No, Simmons. I'm afraid I won't be okay... until I exact my revenge!"

Grif peeks out from behind the tank on the other side of the canyon just as Ghost was running over to help him, "Seriously, I am not affiliated with this lunatic. He does not speak for me!"

Sarge starts charging forward again without warning, "Hyaah!"

Freckles stands back up, " **Engaging target.** "

Caboose becomes frantic, "Freckles! No!"

"Sarge, don't!" Wash screams.

Before anyone else can get hurt, however, a stray gun fires up dramatically into the air, and everyone slowly turns to see who it is in a dramatic effect. As the gun lowers, we are shown that it is none other than Donut wielding the weapon as he stands at the mouth of the canyon.

"Man, you guys are really noisy!"

Everyone pretty much explodes in cheers while running towards Donut in celebration, Simmons even adding an extra skip to his step as everyone crowds around their lightish pink friend. Donut is very much obliged to accept the special treatment, "Aw, you must have really missed me."

" _Donut_ , thank God you're here," Grif droned.

"We were just about ready to kill each other," even Sarge admitted.

Tucker becomes defensive, "Speak for yourself."

Ghost is happy enough now that help has arrived to finally laugh at the situation, "What? Don't wanna embarrass yourself in front of our dear friend Donut here?"

"Where's the ship?" Wash asks Donut while avoiding the glare Tucker sent over his shoulder to aim at Ghost.

"What ship?" 

"The ship you came here on, the rescue team," Wash confirms all too happily.

"Oooh, ha ha. Duh. Allow me to introduce, the rescue team!"

Donut only has to turn slightly for everyone to notice Doc standing beside him, "Sup?" 

Simmons' jaw drops, " **Doc?** " 

Washington's stomach drops and suddenly he doesn't feel all that victorious, "Wait, what is this?"

"Donut told me you guys needed help," Doc explained. 

"So I got the best help money could buy!"

Doc deadpanned, "You didn't pay me."

"And I didn't tip the pilot. That's frugality."

"What pilot?" Sarged asked suspiciously. 

"The pilot that dropped us off, dummy!"

"Dropped you off?" Tucker echoed back with a shrinking voice.

"As in, he's not here anymore?" Grif tries to confirm. 

"Exactly."

"Sup," as usual, Caboose is late to the game. 

Washington's face slowly turns grave from inside his helmet as he tries to elaborate while his rage began to boil over, "So you're telling me... that you heard our distress signal... grabbed Doc... hopped on a ship... and then  **told the ship to leave?** _And that's your idea of sending help?!_ "

"What? No!" Donut answered, appalled before looking down at the ground joyfully, "I brought Lopez, too!"

And on the ground where Donut was pointing, Lopez's head was sitting nestled in the grass, but he was preoccupied with the sight of Lopez Dos,  _"Qué. Carajo."_

The canyon is silent yet again, but Sarge is the first to make a call, "...Kill him!"

All the Reds and Blues suddenly swarm around Doc and Donut and corner them against the canyon wall, everyone yelling in an all-out rage while trying throw in their own ways of exacting their sweet revenge. Through the clouded storm of punches, Donut tries calling out for help while in pain, "Someone get this medium turquoise guy away from me!"

"I'm aqua!"


End file.
